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World Maritime University Dissertations Dissertations
1991
Marine cargo insurance: operational practice problems in Cameroon
Yvonne Moune WMU
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Recommended Citation Moune, Yvonne, "Marine cargo insurance: operational practice problems in Cameroon" (1991). World Maritime University Dissertations. 890. https://commons.wmu.se/all_dissertations/890
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MALMb, SWEDEN
marine: caroo insurance:: ore:rat I ONAL RRACTI ce: rrorlezms IN came:roon
by
MOUNE YVONNE
CAMEROON
A disBertation submitted to the World Maritime University in partial -fulfilment ‘of the requirements for the award of the:
Degree of Master of Science in General Maritime Administration
Year of Graduation
1991 I certi-fy that all material in this dissertation which is not my own work has been identified and that no material is included for which a degree has been previously conferred upon me.
The contents of this dissertation reflect my personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the University.
World Maritime University
Co-assessed by:
Edgar Bold Professor Oceans Institute of Canada
Visiting Professor World Maritime University DEDICATION
Td my parents, Anne and Henri BOSSAMBO, Who made me the person I am and who will Always be present in my heart, despite thei Absence.
To my husband, Jean-St^phane and To my children, Christian, Laurence, Gaetan Constant thought and love tor them gave me Strength to face this long, hard separation A c: Kisr O W L EOO EMEISTT S
I take this opportunity to thank all those whose encouragement and guidance o-F any kind made it possible for me to attend the two—year General Maritime Administration course at the World Maritime University and to complete this paper. This is especially addressed to : - Mr Lawrence Pufong, my former Director at the Merchant Shipping Department, owing to whom the whole thing was made possible, - Mr Josu^ Youmba, whose guidance and advice were of great help, - My understanding and loving husband whose permanent support all along helped me to achieve this work, - My special brother, my sisters, and their families who have always shown so much concern. I take this chance to tell them how important that has been to me. - My two colleagues and friends in Cameroon who have always been so helpful and who I really missed whilst I was in Mai mb.
I am sincerely grateful to the CIDA (Canada) which awarded me the fellowship for this two-year training.
I would also like to thank all the professors and visiting professors in WMU for sharing their knowledge with me. This applies particularly to ; - Professor Jerzy Mlynarczyk who first encouraged me in writing on this subject and helped in its framing, - My course professor, assessor of this paper, for his guidance, - Professor Gold, who co-assessed this paper, for his very useful advice and guidance, - Mr Y. Boixel, the GMA lecturer, for his advice.
Ill Many thanks also to the lELP staff and the Library staff for their devotion to their task, especially to Teresa who helped in many ways.
Special thanks to the following who contributed to my completion of this paper : - Nore>: E
I cannot end this page without making a special mention of all the friends with whom I have spent these two long years and who have made them more bearable, especially Yvrose who shared most of this time with me. r
1 V FOREWORD
My approach in this study will be that o-f "Candide" of Voltaire. I will address this subject from a layman’s perspective as a vigilant follower of the marine insurance market in Cameroon, and not in the viewpoint of an insurance professional or a maritime lawyer, what I am not.
V T’ABL.H: OH' CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ...... iii Foreword...... v
INTRODUCTION 1
CHARTER I
INTERNATIONAL TRADE. MARITIME TRANSPORT AND INSURANCE
I“1 The Relationship Between the Three Concerns..., ? 1-2 Insurance: The Indispensable Tool..,...... 6 1-3 Incoterms and Insurance...... 8 1-4 Maritime Transport in Cameroon...... 10 1-5 The E;:ternal Trade of Cameroon...... 10 1-5.1 E;-:ports...... 12 1-5.2 Imports...... 13 1-6 Marine Insurance in Cameroon...... 15
CHARTER I I
MARINE CARGO INSURANCE PRACTICE IN CAMEROON
PART ONE THE INSURANCE MARKET IN CAMEROON
II-l Regulatory System...... -IS 11-2 Insurance Companies...... 25
VI I1-2.1 Companies Under Cameroonian Law... I1-2.2 Complementary Companies...... 27 11-3 Rei nsLirance Company ...... 27 II-4 Intermediaries...... 28 II-4.1 General Agents...... 28 11-4.2 Brokers...... 29 II-5 Purchasers o-f Marine Cargo Insurance 30
PART TWO THE PRACTICE OF MARINE INSURANCE IN CAMEROON
II—6 Insurance Policies...... 11-6.1 Voyage Policy...... 11-6.2 Floating Policy...... I1-6.3 Open Cover Policy...... II-6.4 Shippers’ Third Party Liability Policy.... . 11-7 Types of Risks...... 34 11-7.1 Particular Average...... 34 II-7.2 General Average...... 34 11-7.3 War Risks, Strikes...... CO 11-8 Insurance Covers...... II-S.l "All Risks" Cover...... 11-8.2 "FAP Sauf" Caver...... I1-9 Determination of the Premium Rate...... 36 II-9.1 Nature and the Value of The Cargo...... 36 11-9.2 Packaging...... 36 II-9.3 Type of the Vessel...... 37 II-9.4 Condition of the Voyage...... 37 II-IO Compensation of the Assured...... TO
VI 1 c:h[af>th:r III
MARINE CARGO INSURANCE PROBLEMS IN CAMEROON
111-1 Regulatory Difficulties...... 4: 111-2 Financial Problems...... 45 111-2.1 Statement of Outstanding Premiums...... 45 111-2.2 Non-Payment of Claims ...... 47 111-3 Lack of Communication...... 4S II1-4 Lack of Cooperation...... 49 111-5 Ni strust of the F'ubl i c ...... II1-6 Lack of Professionalism...... 51
cfia.i=*te:er IV
WHICH SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS ARE POSSIBLE ?
Strenghtening of the Regulatory System...... 54 IV- Solutions to the Financial f-'robl ems„ 57 IV- , 1 Control of the Financial Situation of the Insurance Companies...... 57 IV- :2 Statement of Outstanding Premiums...... 55 ,3 Security for Cl aims Payment...... 59 .4 Settlement of Claims Against Carriers..... 59 IV- Training of Insurance Professionals...... 60 IV- Ccopejration between Pr of essi onal s ...... 62 IV- Improved Communication between Assured and Insurer/Broker ...... :v-6 Public Awareness of the Importance of Marine- Cargo Insurance...... tt B tl R B 66
COKTCLUS I OIST
VI 1 1 ANNEXES: 75
I Law No. 75-14 o-f 8 December 1975, rendering insurance o-f imports compulsory.
II Decree No. 76-334 of 6 August 1976, relating to the implementation of Law No. 75-14 of 8 December 1975 rendering insurance of imports compulsory.
III Ordinance No. 85-3 of 31 August 1985, relating to insurance business.
IV Decree No. 87-639 of 9 May 1987, to fix the minimum amount of the registered or initial capital of insurance companies.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY I NTF^ODUCT I ON
It is commonly accepted that o-f all commercial activities, marine insurance is the most international" This quotation is doubly true when specifically applied to marine cargo insurance. Marine Insurance is divided into two main branches which are : Hull Insurance and Cargo Insurance. Hull insurance strictly speaking concerns the vessels. The shipowners or carriers insure their vessels and more specifically the hull and the machinery. This is done by- insurance companies. At the same time, the shipowners will usually enter their^ vessel In this study, I am not going to deal with hull insurance which, in the case of Cameroon, whose fleet is very small, does not pose any unique problem, according to the information I received from the national shipping company, Cameroon Shipping Lines. My intention is to focus on Cargo Insurance which is a significant concern for many involved in the movement of cargo in the marine mode in Cameroon. Indeed, in only one ship sailing from one port to another, there can be a number of cargoes belonging to 1 more than a hundred of shippers. Each of these cargoes will be insured, which means an important number of insurance policies which can be subscribed for only one ship and one trip. To come back to Dover’s quotation, the exchange of goods from one country to another is an international practice. To be workable from a business perspective, two essential elements are needed. These are transport and insurance. In the case of goods transported by sea, these elements correlate with maritime transport and marine insurance. When maritime activities are studied from the viewpoint of their role in worldwide economics, a close link becomes obvious between the three activities of international trade, maritime transport and marine insurance. When the international nature of maritime activities is understood, one realizes that it may be unwise for a country to expect to deal with them without active foreign involvement. Each of the three activities independently generates significant earnings on an international basis. In the particular case of marine insurance, a country controlling its insurance market by insuring its goods locally can gain much of its hard currency this way. Indeed, the figures for insurance incomes for a country can amount to billions of USD, for those countries where the business is well established. On the contrary, a country whose goods are insured abroad loses a considerable amount of capital. For this reason Cameroon has enacted Law No 75/14 of S December 1975 rendering the insurance of imported goods in Cameroon compulsory. As a matter of fact, having considered the situation and knowing that the country imports twice as many goods as it exports, the government has decided to focus its attention on imports. Moreover, with international trade being very competitive, the government wanted its national exporters to have freedom in negotiating with their clients, so that they do not risk losing already established or developing markets. Thus, exports have no local insurance restriction. They can be insured locally or abroad. Of course. if exported goods could be insured 1ocal1y, this would be positive for Cameroon ’ s economy as wel1. Moreover, the emphasis in this study will be placed on imports which obviously concern more directly the Cameroonian market and involve more people since the goods imported are to be consumed locally. As indicated earlier, the aim of the government by passing Law No 75/14 was to stop the exodus of capital associated with insurance business, but, if the results of this legislation are closely examined, it has to be admitted that this law did not achieve its purpose. As a matter of fact, most of the insurance companies present in the Cameroonian insurance market are subsidiaries of large foreign companies, which means that most of this capital will still not accrue to the benefit of Cameroon. Of course, since then, some national private companies have established their businesses, but they are young in the business and they face a difficult task in competing for a market share with the older well- established companies. As will be seen later on, the Cameroonian market has achieved a basically good structure even though it might take time be-fore it operates as effectively to satisfy the different participants : the sellers and the buyers of insurance. Indeed, many problems of different kinds prevent the market from functioning adequately. These problems are mainly based on the human failure of dealing with the regulations on the one hand, and failure in human relationships on the other hand. Thus, the problems at this level will not be easy to solve since they involve human behaviour which, as everyone knows, is very complex and very difficult to change in a short time. The purpose of this project then is to point out the different problems faced in the practice of marine cargo insurance in Cameroon . and to try to discuss which solutions may possibly solve at least some of these problems. To carry out this task, the material used was mainly based : firstly, on different interviews given by senior officials of some of the insurance companies and by some major shippers; secondly, on a two-year press review of insurance matters; thirdly, on a book written by one insurance company Manager ; and finally, on the very useful documentation of the Western African Sub-regional Colloque on Marine Insurance which took place in Douala, Cameroon, in October 1989. Of course, many reference books on marine cargo insurance were used to establish a foundation of knowledge in order to complete this work. 4 CHAPTER I INTERNATIONAL TRADE. MARITIME TRANSPORT AND INSURANCE In this chapter, I shall -first o-f all show the link between international commerce, maritime transport and insurance. I shall then, very briefly, present the useful tool that insurance represents and its influence on the Incoterms. Finally, I shall provide a sketch of the situation of external trade and maritime transport in Cameroon. I-l The Relationship Between the Three Concerns. International trade, maritime transport and insurance are three concerns* which are intimately connected. In fact, the first one is served by the other two. Trade is an ancient practice which is almost as old as human beings. There is a vital need for people to exchange goods, and since the advent of navigation, overseas trade was made possible. This dates back thousands of years. As soon as overseas trade became settled, those engaged in it found it necessary to protect themselves against the loss of their goods. Indeed, early merchants involved in this trade were leaving everything to chance, and they were never sure they would get back their investment. Thus, it became imperative tor them to receive compensation tor whatever losses they might occasionally sustain. The concept ot insurance was then born, and as time progressed and the more overseas trade grew, the greater became the importance ot marine insurance. As can be deduced trom this progression, marine insurance originated trom a willingness ot people to expand overseas trade when it became possible to protect themselves trom its risks. 1-2 Insurance : the Indispensable Tool. Sending goods trom one country to another, as part ot a commercial transaction can be a risky business. It the goods are lost or damaged, or it delivery does not take place tor some other reason, the assured can turn to his insurer and be indemnitied. Cargo Insurance is one ot the main branches ot marine insurance. It is, "anI activity aimed at moving the burden ot risk trom the shoulders ot the exporters and importers ot goods and placing it upon the shoulders ot specialist risk-bearing underwr i ters". < Badger S< Whitehead : 1983, p.2) Accordingly, it is easier tor overseas traders to carry on their business it the risks ot losses are covered at least to some extent. Cargo insurance provides a kind ot protection which makes overseas trading less ot a gamble than it would be it no method ot insurance were available. 6 Insurance can be regarded as a kind o-f -financial security that ensures that the cargo owner will be able to carry on the business o-f trading o-f goods. Insurance is not compulsory, but it is highly advisable because the amount paid -for it is insignificant beside the amount of the cargo. The English Marine Insurance Act, 1906, which today is still the basis on which the insurance industry law is codified in a large number of places, defines marine insurance as : "A contract whereby the insurer undertakes to indemnify the assured in manner and to the esc tent thereby agreed, against marine losses, that is to say, the losses incident to marine adventure". (Section 1 of the 1906 Act) The contract so defined is based on three principles which are the pillars of insurance. Those principles are discussed below. - The Principle of Indemnity As a result of the incidence of the risks against which the insurer has agreed to protect the assured, the latter is entitled to be compensated to the extent of the loss he has suffered. This means that the assured is not allowed to make a profit from the insurance. This principle gives rise to rules such as : the right of subrogation resulting from the settlement of the claim; the right to a return of premium in certain cases; and the solutions to problems arising when more than one insurer is concerned with the same interest. 7 - The Principle of Insurable Interest No one may ensure anything unless he has an interest in it, which means that if the thing insured is preserved, he will derive a benefit from its preservation, but if it is in any way damaged or lost, the assured will be adversely affected. So, an assured can only be entitled to indemnity if he has an insurable interest in the subject matter of the insurance. — The Principle of Utmost Good Faith A high standard of honesty is required in the practice of marine insurance. The assured must disclose all material facts known to him or deemed to be known to him. The duty of observing good faith is much more firmly placed on the assured, although generally it is equally binding on the insurer. 1-3 Incoterms and Insurance. Today, overseas trade is no longer a gamble since it is well structured with standardized sales contract wording which goes back to 1936, when the International Chamber of Commerce first published a set of international rules for the definition and interpretation of trade terms The basis on which the Incoterms works is to list the meaning which is most widely accepted throughout the 8 world. This approach has its counterpart in marine insurance. As a matter o-f -fact, from the insurance point of view, it should be made clear whether the seller or the buyer is responsible for goods and their transport so that appropriate insurance coverage can be applied. INCOTERMS specifically outline parameters of responsibility. The most common INCOTERMS used in marine transport are : -FOB (Free on Board) : the seller undertakes to deliver the goods on board the vessel, at which point the risk passes to the buyer. - C F (Cost and Freight) s the seller undertakes to fi;-; the shipping space, deliver the goods on board and pay the ocean freight. The risk passes to the buyer on shipment. - C I F (Cost, Insurance, Freight) s the seller undertakes to fiK the shipping space, deliver the goods on board the vessel, pay the freight and arrange the voyage insurance for cover at least up to the port of destination. The risk f passes then to the buyer. Once the insurance responsibility between seller and buyer is firmly established, it is easier to see when the seller’s policy will cease and the buyer’s policy will start. The responsibility for marine insurance under FOB and C? The interrelation of international trade, maritime transport and insurance is then made clear. In international trade, goods need to be carried, and this role is a function of maritime transport, or ships. 9 international trade would be more risky -for the traders i-f they could not insure their goods ; the need to insure goods is -fulfilled by marine cargo insurance. At the same time, maritime transport benefits from insurance, because many improvements in shipping are due to the requirements of the insurers, who are not willing to pay the claims when they can prove irresponsibi1ity on the part of the carrier. Therefore, the shipowners or the carriers have to make sure their vessels are in an acceptable condition to be engaged in overseas transport. 1-4 Maritime Transport in Cameroon Cameroon is a coastal country where more than 907. of the external trade is carried by sea. This means that the country depends almost entirely on maritime transport for exports and imports. Consequently, maritime transport is of great importance for the economy of the country. Given this dependence of its external trade on maritime transport, the Cameroonian Government has placed emphasis on the maritime sector in general and on shipping policy in particular. This began some twenty years ago. Therefore, in the early seventies, about ten years after its independence, the country undertook to have its own fleet and in 1974 created the Cameroon Shipping Lines (CAMSHIP). Until 1987, the fleet was composed of six sea going vessels, but today, due partly to an economic slump, the Company owns only two vessels. Before the creation of CAMSHIP, the carriage of Cameroonian goods was entirely handled by foreign vessels, 10 mainly French ones, Cameroon being a former French colony until 1959. But, despite the intent of this program, the current size of the fleet means that most of the goods carried by sea to and from Cameroon are still transported by foreign ships. Two vessels simply cannot handle the whole external trade of the country. This is emphasized by the following 1989 table which shows the distribution of vessels of various flags calling into Cameroonian ports. It is clear that the part carried by CAMSHIP is relatively insignificant. Classification of. vessel flags (1989) Position Flag Annual Traffic ■/. Blobal Traffic 1 Bahamas 768 430 21 ,49 French 419 300 11 ,70 3 Cypriot 412 091 11,52 4 Yugoslavian 266 366 7,45 5 Cameroonian 215 393 6,08 6 Panamian 211 146 5,91 7 Breek 192 770 5,39 8 Liberian 167 117 4,68 9 Danish 113 381 3,17 10 Spanish 104 426 JUO tf QO/ X- - Others 706 871 19,70 TOTAL 3 577 291 100,00 Source: Annual Report, Cameroon National Ports Authority 1-5 The External Trade of Cameroon 1-5.1 Exports Exports in most developing countries are mainly based on agricultural products and raw materials. With a -few exceptions, the features of Cameroonian exports are very similar to those of many developing countries. Agriculture is a huge asset for Cameroon. It contributed about 25’/. of the Gross Domestic Product in the mid 1980’s. It provides a great range of both cash crops for export and food crops for home consumption. Concerning cash crops which are exported, they include ; cocoa (world’s fifth largest producer), coffee, cotton, tobacco, rubber, palm oil and bananas. To these crops, tropical wood can be added. Apart from the production of agricultural exports, Cameroon produces and exports the following minerals : bauxite, coal, iron,' iron ore, nickel, platinum and to a small extent gold. In addition, since the late 1970’s, Cameroon has produced oil, and from the early 19S0’s, it has exported crude petroleum what has helped the country’s balance of trade for some years ; but the external trade has been in deficit since the slump in oil prices. The following for 1986 table shows the main exports of the country. 12 Exports (f.o.b) in million francs CFA * Cocoa...... 37,223 Co-f-fee (arabica)...... 28,330 Coffee (robusta)...... 88,281 Bananas...... 5,670 Rubber...... 4,319 Tobacco...... 4,429 Cotton fibre...... 12,326 Cotton fabrics...... 3,984 Palm nuts and kernels...... 161 Palm oil...... 1,567 Cocoa pul p...... 5,533 Cocoa butter...... 8,661 LoQS...... •••..■....■.•••■18,488 Sawnwood and sleepers...... 2,712 Aluminium...... 16,914 Aluminium products...... 5,184 Crude petrol eum...... 192,709 Total (including others) 541,728 i - Source : Regional Surveys of the World, 20th Edition, 1990 1-5.2 Imports If the main exports of Cameroon are cash crops and raw materials, the leading imports are essentially machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel products. As with exports, the features of Cameroonian imports are those of most developing countries which are mainly represented by manufactured articles. 13 The -following table shows the di-f-ferent imports o-f the country. Imports (c.i.f) in million francs CFA * Tyres...... 5, 181 Textiles...... 20,827 Malt...... 15,029 Cement...... 5,575 A1 umi na...... 9,593 Lubricants...... 3,917 Medicine...... 24,460 Books and Newspapers...... ,10,733 Iron and steel pipes...... 1,470 Paper and allied products...... 16,612 Drilling equipment...... 7,472 Footwear...... , 5,143 Iron and steel...... 35,210 Cutting machinery...... 7,404 Generating machinery...... 6,971 Road transport equipment...... 66,940 Air transport equipment...... 10,797 Maritime transport equipment...... 1,996 Electrical,telegraphi c, telephone appliances and machi nery...... 56,112 Ferti 1 izers...... 8,223- Total (including others) 590,439 Source : Regional Surveys o-f the World, 20th ed. , 1990 * 1 USD = 290 FCFA as per March 31, 1990 14 Having considered both main exports and imports of the country, one can draw the conclusion that the external trade balance shows a de-ficit, even though the export of crude oil was very important at this time. In fact, since the year 1986, the sharp decline in oil prices marks the beginning of the deterioration. The last figures available make it clear that the situation is becoming worse. According to the two previous paragraphs, it can be said that maritime transport in Cameroon is a very young industry in terms of its size, which implies that marine insurance is very young too, since both industries are closely related. 1-6 Marine Insurance in Cameroon The creation of the national shipping company coincides with the promulgation of the law regulating insurance business; and more particular1y, owing to the legislative provisions of Law No 75/14 of 8 December 1975 and its Decree of application No 76/334 of 6 August 1976 rendering insurance of imports compulsory, the basis of marine insurance industry was made possible since then. With the law rendering insurance of imports compulsory, marine insurance has gone through a boom in the early 19S0’s before the economic crisis the country is facing reached its culminating point, but since 1985, it has started a reverse course and has seen a reduction in its part of the market. 15 However, up to now, cargo marine insurance comes in second position after automobiles as is shown in the following table. Evolution of Some Sectors of the Insurance Business ( in millions F. CFA ) Sector 1983 1984 1985 1986 Global Turn-Over 30 973 37 009 41 328 46 024 Maritime 5 511 5 652 6 001 5 307 Automobi1e 12 500 14 379 17 588 - Life 1 990 2 923 4 063 4 700 Evolution in !'f. Maritime 17,79 15,27 14,52 11,53 Automobile 40,36 38,85 42,56 - Life 6,42 7,9 9,89 10,21 Source : Bulletin du C.N.C.C. (ler trimestre 1990) 16 ch[af=»th:er I I MARINE CARGO INSURANCE PRACTICE IN CAMEROON This chapter will be divided into two parts. The first part will describe the insurance market in Cameroon. The second part will describe the practice of marine cargo insurance in Cameroon. In this chapter I intend to describe, and only describe the way things are supposed to be done, since when meeting an insurance professional in the Cameroonian market, he gives you this description. In order to avoid confusion I shall come to the way things are really done when describing the problems met in the practice of marine cargo insurance in another chapter. 17 PART ONE THE INSURANCE MARKET IN CAMEROON The Insurance Market in Cameroon is composed o-f Insurance Companies, Intermediaries (who are General Agents and Brokers) and of one professional Reinsurance Company. To complete the presentation of the market, those without whom the business would not be carried out, the buyers of marine cargo insurance, will be considered. As can be noticed, the Marine Insurance Market is not discussed, but rather the Insurance Market; the reason will hopefully appear obvious after the description of this market. Firstly, the different texts of law regulating the business are presented. II-l Regulatory System The Insurance Business in Cameroon is under the supervisory authori'ty of the Ministry of Finance, which controls the operations of the insurance companies and the insurance agents. The first Ordinance laying down the regulations applicable to insurance business was published in .May 1973. It was Ordinance No 73-14 of 10 May 1973. This ordinance was replaced the 31 August 1985 by the Ordinance No 85-03 relating to insurance business which became Law No 85-22 of 11 December 1985. For the time being, this Ordinance regulates the insurance business in Cameroon. It both applies to the Insurance Companies as well as to the Direct Agents (or 18 Intermediaries) Ordinance No 85-03 is divided into eight parts which are subdivided into chapters, making a total of 92 articles. Some of these articles particularly relevant to this project will be described in the following pages. In Part I of the Ordinance dealing with the General Provisions : ♦ Article 3 provides that : 1- Insurance companies shall be registered under Cameroonian Law. 4- Notwithstanding the provisions herein above, some foreign underwriters may be authorised to carry out insurance transactions in the Republic of Cameroon under conditions which shall be fixed by a special instrument. !|t Article 6 ; Insurance contracts'covering imported goods or cargo must be concluded in Cameroon where the contractant is a resident within the meaning of the General Tax Code. In Part III of the Ordinance dealing with the State Approval : # Article 31 provides that : 1- Insurance companies governed by the present Ordinance shall obtain approval from the supervisory authority before commencing business in compliance with the conditions fixed by order. 19 Article 36 : 2- All reinsurance transactions involving the transfer or retrocession of more than 50"/. of a risk abroad shall be subject to the prior approval of the supervisory authority, provided the transferor gives proof that he has exhausted the capacity to contract of bodies approved in Cameroon. 0- All reinsurance agreements with foreign companies shall not involve the transfer of more than 50% of the premium. * Article 38 s Insurance Agents governed by this Ordinance shall, prior to starting their activities, be empowered by the supervisory authority to offer insurance transactions to the public. * Article 44 : The conditions of professional competence and integrity required of insurance agents and other conditions for 1i1^9 their profession shall be laid down by order of the supervisory authority. * Article 45 ; 1- Natural persons responsible for managing an insurance company shall, prior to their assumption of duty, be approved by order of the Minister in charge of insurance. 2- They shall be of Cameroonian nationality and reside in Cameroon. 3- Their applications for approval shall be accompanied by 20 all documents showing that they are o-f honourable character and have the appropriate training and eKperience. 4- The Minister in charge o-f insurance may make all investigations needed to enable him take a decision. 5- Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 above : Companies already operating on the date of issue of this Ordinance may be managed by non-Cameroonians approved for two years or provided that the said persons reside in Cameroon. Such approval can only be renewed once if need be. Companies approved after the promulgation of this Ordinance may be managed by non-Cameroonians approved for two years, renewable once. In Part IV of the Ordinance dealing with Regulatory commitments of insurance companies : Article 48 provides that : Insurance companies shall be bound, according to the types of transactions thdy carry out to provide the following technical provisions s 1— Provision for unexpired risks s provision intended to cover risks and overheads related thereto for each of the premium paid contracts, in respect of the period between the due date of the next premium, or failing this, the date at which the contract matures. 2- Provision for outstanding claims and the amount of expenditure for claims resulting in annuities for which the company is not yet liable. In Part V of the Ordinance dealing with State 21 Intervention : * Article 55 provides that : 1- State Control of insurance concerns shall be exercised in the interests o-f policy holders, subscribers and the beneficiaries of contracts. 2- It shall concern all the activities of such undertakings, in particular, the application of the rules and regulations in insurance companies, the use of funds collected, compensation for accidents and the investment of technical and actuarial provisions. * Article 57 : 1- State control of insurance concerns and transactions shall be exercised under the authority of the Minister in charge of insurance through insurance controllers or any other duly appointed person. t Article 58 : i 1- Insurance concerns operating in the Republic of Cameroon shall be bound to send to the supervisory authority, in the manner and on the dates fixed by it, all documents as may facilitate the checking and the running of the companies. They must state their accounts in the manner laid down by decree. Apart from Ordinance No B5-03 of 31 August 1985 Relating to Insurance Business, another important text regulating insurance business is Decree No 87/639 of 9 May 1987 to fix the minimum amount of the registered or initial capital of insurance companies. This Decree provides that : Insurance companies that carry out the transactions referred to in Article 1(3) of Ordinance No 85-03 of 31 August 1985 shall, at the time of their constitution, show proof of the following : - for limited liability companies, a minimum initial capital not less than one hundred and fifty million CFA francs, half of which must be completely paid up, excluding contributions in kind - for mutual insurance companies, a minimum initial capital of not less than one hundred million CFA francs wholly subscribed ; - for mutual societies, a minimum initial capital of not less than fifty million CFA francs wholly subscribed. Finally, the most important Law with regard to Marine Cargo Insurance is Law Mo 75/14 of 8 December 1975 Rendering Insurance of Imports Compulsory. This Law states the following : 1- All natural persons and corporate bodies under public or private law shall be bound to take out insurance in respect of all imports into the United Republic of Cameroon with an insurance concern holding approval in Cameroon. 2- The terms and conditions of application of the present Law, and in particular the minimum value of imports for which insurance shall be compulsory and the production and validity of insurance certificates, shall be prescribed by Decree. The Decree herein above mentioned, is Decree No 76- 334 of 6 August 1976 Relating to the implementation of Law No 75—14 of 8 December 1975 rendering insurance of imports compulsory. This Decree states : Article 1- The insurance obligation instituted by Section I of Law No 75-14 of 8 December 1975 shall apply solely to imports the FOB value of which exceeds 500,000 CFA francs. The type of insurance shall be freely fixed by the parties. Provided that in the absence of a "comprehensive" coverage the insurance policy shall be taken out, in the case of sea transport, under the minimum conditions of the guarantee "Free of Particular Average, Unless..." Article 3- The risks to be borne by the insured in the case where an insurance policy other than a "comprehensive risks" one has been taken out, may only be insured, as the case may be with an insurance concern approved in the United Republic of Cameroon. Article 5- The insurance concern must deliver free of charge to the insured, an insurance certificate. The presumption that the insurance obligation has been met shall be established by this document for the period stated therein. These different Laws and Decrees show that Cameroon 24 has provided the Insurance Business with a relatively reliable regulatory system. .Now, how this system works in practice may be an absolutely different matter. As a matter of fact, a law can be perfectly worded, but it is the way people understand these words and how they react to them that is important. 11-2 Insurance Companies About ten companies operate in the market with a turnover of 46.024 millions of CFA Francs in 1986. These companies are divided as follows : 11-2.1 Companies under Cameroonian Law There are eight companies operating at present. Among them, one mutual company and seven limited liability companies. * The only mutual .'insurance company, AMACAM (Assurance Mutuelle Agricole du Cameroun), is the oldest company operating in the market. . * The seven limited companies are divided into : -Two private companies with full Cameroonian assets. They are : C N A (Compagnie Nationale d’Assurance), T A A (TransAfricaine d’Assurance). - One miKed company with Cameroonian and -foreign assets, the State being the majority shareholder : S 0 C A R - The -four remaining companies are actually subsidiaries o-f multinational companies with a -foreign assets majority. They are s S N A C G E A C A M (General and Equitable Assurance Cameroon Ltd) formerly G R E A C A M, C C A R (Companie Camerounaise d'Assurance et de Reassurance), A L I C 0 (American Life Insurance Company). Apart from the last one, ALICO, which only deals with Life Insurance, all these companies deal with marine insurance through a Marine and Transport Department. None of them is fully involved in marine insurance only, and as it can be seen in the tables to come, marine insurance is in the second place in their activities. All these companies are members of a professional association, A S A C (Association des Soci^t^s d’Assurance du Cameroun) , main role of which is to promote the interests of the profession. The personnel employed by those different companies is more than 90% Cameroonian. 26 11-2.2 Complementary Companies These companies are not under the national law. They are represented in the market by legal correspondents. Thus ; C A M A T represented by the ACC, Saint Paul Fire represented by the ACC, Rhone M^diterran^e represented by S N A C. Lloyd’s is a company with a special status which operates through a representative. 11-3 Reinsurance Company The CNR (Caisse Nationals de Reassurance) is a public company which was created in 1968 in order to preserve the exodus of hard currency from the foreign companies which were almost entirely alone in dealing with insurance business in the country. The CNR’s aim was to avoid all the reinsurance operations to be carried out abroad. After -Ordinance No 73-14 and the creation of companies under national law, the scope of the operations of the CNR was extended. The CNR insures the insurance companies. In fact, all the insurance companies operating in Cameroon are required to place at least lOX of the risks they underwrite in Cameroon and all the war risks with the CNR. This is required by law. Apart from those lOy., the companies are free to reinsure where they want, 27- as many o-f them do abroad. II-4 Intermediaries Two kinds o-f Intermediaries are -found in the market, general agents and brokers. 11-4.1 General Agents They represent the insurance companies and bring to the traders the security o-f the companies -for which they underwrite. They carry out their business like a liberal pro-fession and can ot-fer businessmen the services o-f an insurance company in a decentralised way, in short they are closer to the buyers o-f insurance. This could explain why they are acquiring more than 50% of the market income, whereas they are only six in all. Among those six general agents, only two are nationals, T. BOLLANGA and ORBASSUR. Both together realise scarcely 20% of the underwritings, The four others are foreign general agents, which t means that they generally deal with international groups of underwriting agents and with multinational trading companies. Those trading companies prefer to insure their cargoes with subsidiaries of their home companies. Thus, the hard currency exodus cannot be avoided totally. These foreign general agents are mainly : CHAN AS 8< PR I VAT, ACC, S 0 R A R A F, 28 S 0 G E R C 0. 11-4.2 Brokers The brokers are usually the intermediaries between the insurance companies, the agents and the assureds. The broker is the authorized agent of the assured. He is the one to whom the premium is handed over. He will then deduct his brokerage, which is usually about 5/i of the premium and he will give the remaining amount to the insurer. He is the real person negotiating the policy for the assured. Forty brokers operate in the Cameroonian market. Up to 1979, the market was closed for' international brokerage, but at present, international broking companies are found in the market, such as : AGFRA-SEDGWICK, 6RAS-SAVDYE, S G C A C, C C C A. As for the International General Agents, those brokers are inclined to deal principally with foreign insurance companies having close links with their countries. Concerning the national brokers, they are numerous and are found everywhere in the trading places in the 29 country. They are very close to the traders Two out o-f the -forty brokers make more than 50% of the brokerage turnover. They are, AGFRA-SEDGWICK which is a subsidiary of the very well-known British broking company SEDGWICK, and GRAS-BAVOYE, a subsidiary of the French company. Once more, this means that a big part of insurance business income is going out of the country in one way or another. I1-5 Purchasers of Marine Cargo Insyrance Usually, they are small or big businessmen and companies. This categorisation has its importance because, depending on whether the client is a small one as opposed to a big one, his understanding of insurance practice or at least the means he uses to understand it differs completely from big businessmen. They are more involved in international trade and having more possibilities, they try to avoid the risks of losing their investments, by taking great interest in insurance concerns. Concerning the big companies, they generally have personnel or a whole service in charge of insurance matters and personnel will deal with the insurance companies and the intermediaries. The small businessmen or companies are much less aware of the wheels of insurance practice. Unfortunately, this category represents the largest part of the buyers of the marine cargo insurance market in Cameroon. 30 Apart from those different regular clients of the market, there are also sporadic clients. As a matter of fact, anyone at any time can be concerned with marine cargo insurance. It is, for example, the case when individuals have to ship their personal belongings from one country to another, and for this purpose they will be obliged to insure their effects to make sure they are not running the risk of losing everything in case of occurrence of any damage or loss. PART TWO THE PRACTICE OF MARINE INSURANCE IN CAMEROON In the preceding part, the insurance market has been described, and so it can be seen that almost all the insurance companies operating in Cameroon deal with marine insurance through their Marine and Transport Department. II-6 Insurance Policies These companies o-f-fer -four kinds o-f insurance policies to their clients which are : - voyage policy, - floating policy, - open cover policy^ - third party policy. 11-6.1 Voyage Policy The nature, the quantity of the goods and the journey are fixed beforehand. The name of the vessel, the ports of departure and arrival, the consignor and the consignee, so too will the quantities and the value of the goods insured be known prior to the underwriting of the policy. For this policy, the risk is well defined and usually the policy is underwritten for occasional shipments. II-6.2 Floating Policy- In this case, the quantities of the goods are determined, but the time is not defined. This policy is generally used for commercial contracts which spread shipments over an indefinite period of time. Thus, instead of several voyage policies, the floating policy will include the total value and the number of shipments. I1-6.3 Open Cover Policy Contrary to the preceding policy, the open cover policy defines the time but the quantities are not determined. This policy automatically covers all the goods sent by the assured taking place within the defined period, whatever goods, means of transport and destinations. The only thing the assured will have to do is to make known all the shipments to the insurer. The open cover is generally used by tradesmen and manufacturers who export or import regularly various kinds of goods to and from ports of different countries. The open cover policy is renewed yearly by tacit agreement. The advantages of this policy are practical. As a matter of fact, there is no need for formalism, the cover is automatic and there is a gain of time and of expenses. II-6.4 Shippers'Third-Party Liability Policy Open cover policies are proposed for shipping companies, forwarding and transport agents as they can cover the goods that their clients have asked them to insure and to carry or to ship. This policy is an open cover one in which insurance is not automatic since it only includes the shipments that their clients ask them to insure. 11-7 Types of risks These di-fterent policies cover two types o-f risks : the ordinary risks o-f transport, and war risks, strike risks and exceptional risks. These risks are then ranged under the heading of particular average and general average. II-7.1 Particular Average The particular average is the damages, the losses or shortages that the goods can suffer during their transport. The damage can occur : - during transport, from events which strike the vessel as well as the goods : such as wreck, fire...etc., and-from incidents which strike only the goods, such as damping by seawater or rain, breakage due to shifting.... — during the handling (loading, stowage, unloading...) and during the stay on quay (theft or breakage). Various expenses can be caused by damage such as average expenses. I1-7.2 General Average It is a special risk to maritime transport. This risk is likely to result in losses and important expenses for the shippers. The system of general average is an ancient one which implies a liability on the part of all interests at risk in a maritime adventure to contribute rateably to make good any losses voluntarily incurred in time of peril, for the common safety of the marine adventure. II-7.3 War Risks, Strikes.. War and strike risks are "exceptional" risks. They generally cover goods transported in areas where there are political or social troubles and where there is a declared war. 11-8 Insurance Cover Two main kinds o-f insurance cover are proposed to the buyers of marine cargo insurance in the market ; they are the "All Risks" and the "FAR Sauf" (Franc d’Avaries Particuli^res) which means, " Free of Particular Average, Unless." 11-8.1 "All Risks" Cover This insurance, contrary to its name, does not cover all risks. It covers all the damage or losses occurring to the goods assured ddring the voyage. The risks which are excluded from the cover are enumerated in the policy, and apart from these specific exclusions, the scope of "All Risks" is wide enough. The "All Risks", by and large, corresponds to the Institute A Clause. Only a small amount of goods imported into Cameroon are insured under the "All Risks" conditions. 11-8.2 "FAR Sauf" Cover The "FAP Sauf" insurance, contrary to "All Risks", only covers the particular average caused by the occurrences which are enumerated in the policy. This enumeration can be very wide, and it quotes the big events which may occur during maritime transport. The *'FAP Saut" corresponds, to some extent, to the B or C Institute Clauses. Most of the goods imported in Cameroon are insured on the “FAP Sauf" conditions. I1-9 Determination of the premium rate The premium to be paid will depend on the risks covered; thus, obviously, the premium paid for an "All Risks" cover will be higher than the one paid for a "FAP Sauf" cover. To determine this premium, the following different elements are considered. I1-9.1 Nature and Value of the Cargo Eoods differ in their nature s some are fragile, others are perishable and some again are dangerous... Depending on whether the cargo is of one type or another, the rate of the premium will differ. In the same way, goods differ in value, and the value of the cargo will be taken into account as a determining element. 11-9.2 Packaging The packing of the goods is one of the main elements of determination of the premium. As a matter of fact, a large amount of damage or losses occur due to i nappropriate packaging. The packaging made by specialized companies is more reliable and the insurers take into account the fact whether the goods insured are packed by professionals or not. The problem of packaging is rather acute in Cameroon. 36 II-9.3 Type of Vessel The type of vessel is important in that the container ship for example is quite different from a bulk carrier when it comes to transport of goods, but the most important aspect concerning the vessel is its age and general conditions. Indeed, the older a ship, the higher the risks, and consequently the higher the rate of premium. Ships over 15 years are applied a special rate. I1-9.4 Condition of the Voyage This condition includes the way the cargo is carried, if it is containerised or if it is conventional. Containerised cargoes are said to be in a safer condition. Then, the condition will depend on whether the cargo is carried on deck or not ; cargoes carried on deck are more often subject to damage such as water wetting or to loss due to bad stowage or bad weather. The condition can also include the po'rt of destination s some ports do not have the equipment required for the loading and discharge operations, which can lead to possible accidents due to lack of appropriate port infrastructure. The Cameroonian market has no pre-established premium rate. Each company decides the rate that it judges sufficient for the coverage of a risk and for its own profit margin. This means that there is free competition in the market. 37 II-IO Compensation of the Assured In case of loss or damage occurrence, the assured has to fulfil some formalities in order to be indemnified. Those formalities are the following: -To take or demand all the measures of conservation or of salvage that the situation requires in order to protect the goods insured or to limit damage. —To request on average surveyor intervention within 30 days after the discharge of the goods. -To maintain all rights and claims against the carriers and/or any other person responsible. -To present the claim to the insurers as soon as possible. In general, the rule requires that : - In the case of visible damage ; * before taking delivery of the goods, the assured should make precise reservations referring to the brands, the numbers, the quantity and the weight of the litigious cargo ; and he should wait for a contradictory survey or an official report. * he should immediately send a registered letter of reservations to the carrier and/or any other person responsible, informing him of the damage ascertained. - In the case of damage found after delivery : * the assured should stop the unpacking and ask for the average surveyor. 38 * he should immediately send a registered letter of reservations to the carrier and/or to any other person responsible, informing him of the damage ascertained. - In both cases, he should invite the carrier and/or any other person responsible to attend to the survey by sending a registered letter. If the carrier does not attend to the survey, it should not take place ; and the surveyor’s advice should be sought as to whether a judiciary survey should take place or not. - The prescription should be interrupted against the carrier or any one else if the complete files are not provided to the insurers within one month of the date before this prescription. - In the case of General Average : the assured should sign the commitment to contribute,' but with reservation to contest the very principle of general average and the figures. Apart from these different formalities, the assured is required to provide for any claim to the insurers : * an original certificate of insurance * an original Bill of Lading negotiable * the original titles of transport Furthermore, the assured will have to provide the following : - In the case of particular average ; t a certificate of the average surveyor 39 * i-f possible the carrier’s statement * the copies of the letters of reservations sent to the persons responsible. - In the case of non-delivery of cargo : * the final certificate of non-delivery from the person supposed to be responsible — In the case of general average : * the receipt of provisory contribution endorsed in blank by the person who has paid the contribution. According to what precedes, the assured has to go through many formalities and to provide a number of certificates, in order to have compensation paid. Once these requirements have been achieved and the certificates provided, then the assured is entitled to receive the indemnity from the insurer, if the latter is satisfied with the documents received. Then, the assured will start waiting to be indemnified, what usually does not take place before at least two months. 40 CI-IAE^TEER III MARINE CARGO INSURANCE PROBLEMS IN CAMEROON In this chapter, my intention is to raise the main problems -faced by the practice o-f marine cargo insurance in Cameroon. These problems are of various kinds, but they are mainly due to human inability, by and large, since the structure of the market is good enough and should not be the cause of malpractice. Ill Regulatory Difficulties Law No 75/14 of December 1975 which rendered insurance of imports compulsory has given marine insurance a real start since this practice under Cameroonian law was almost non—e>;i stent. This obligation to subscribe to insurance locally for imported goods has helped to increase the amount of income of the insurance companies. However, this law has some failings : it is compulsory to insure on restrictive conditions "FAP Sauf" and not on "All Risks", and only for goods amounting to 500 000 FCFA and more. The problem is that, under these restrictive conditions, the shipper has made insurance a simple customs formality. The certificate of insurance has to be shown to the customs service on delivery of the goods. The certificate being- just a document, the shipper usually will subscribe to insurance at the lowest cost when he has made sure his goods have arrived. This way of 41 circumventing the law has become current practice and most of the shippers find it absolutely normal to subscribe to a so-called "FAP Sauf" policy which does not cost much and gets rid of this "burden" (as insurance is perceived by the public in general). This could lead to the question of knowing whether goods imported in Cameroon are actually insured or not. The - answer to this question is that most of them are insured. This refers back to the first chapter in which the fact that most of the Cameroonian imports are paid for on a C.I.F basis, which means that the goods are insured by the supplier up to the port of Douala was discussed, so, the insurance certificate required by the customs services is merely a formality. Thus, the truth is that despite the law rendering compulsory insurance of imports locally, most Cameroonian imports are insured abroad. One of the reasons given by the importers to explain this situation is that the cost of insurance is more expensive in the Cameroonian market. They pay much less for an "All Risks" cover abroad than local1y. This ascertainment raises another question. If the law makes it compulsory to subscribe to an "All Risks" policy for imported goods, should the practice be different ? The answer seems obvious. How can one be sure that this could really help ? How is it possible for people not to consider it a bigger constraint to subscribe to "All Risks" ? Would people not try to evade this law as well ? Most importantly, how does one get people to understand the benefits of subscribing to an "All Risks" policy locally if they are not obviously aware of its 42 importance? Last but not the least, how to encourage them to change their commercial behaviour by buying F.D.B and not C.I.F ? When one looks to the Authorities in charge of implementing the law, apparently, nothing is done to stop this practice. Either the Authorities are not aware of this practice and they should be more effective in the control of the application of the law, or they are aware of it and they are accommodating towards the people circumventing the law. Dn the other hand, the insurance companies are playing a game which is not to their credit. As a matter of fact, if they issue certificates of insurance which are fake, knowing that never they will have claims from them, they are gaining money in a dishonest way, because they are no longer dealing with insurance, but they are just helping their customers to circumvent the law. Some insurers even use the practice of "fronting" which consists of Cameroonian insurers accepting cover of shipments at conditions fixed by foreign insurers to whom they will give up almost the entire premium encashed as a reinsurance operation. In fact, the problem is made more difficult since the insurers are the persons who could have been of great help in trying to put an end to this dishonest practice. A recent discussion with a Representative of the French Insurance Market highlighted another view of the problem of the importers’ non-willingness to insure their goods locally. This comes from the fact that their trade 43 partners (in this particular example, the French exporters) do not agree to sell their products on an FOB basis and to let the buyer arrange -for his own insurance and transport. The reason they put -forward is that they do not trust the Cameroonian insurers, so, they demand to sell on the GIF basis, whatever the requirements o-f the country importing might be. Thus, the importer will then be obliged to buy on a CIF basis and to subscribe to another insurance policy for the same cargo in order to comply with the regulations of his country, and in fact, he will pay twice for the same cargo. Apparently, this double insurance does not bother the sel1ers’insurers who are quite well aware of the practice. The only thing that they cannot stand is to pay for a claim which has been put to the local insurer as well. If ever this happens, they will say that the assured wants to get two compensations for the same cargo ; this, in insurance is considered to be a malpractice, whereas the fact that this assurfed has paid twice for the same cargo, is not perceived as a malpractice. This confirms the fact that it is easier to receive money than to give it. This was put another way by a Belgian distinguished advocate of the past- quoted by Robert de Smet- who said : " Les Assureurs sont comme les femmes, ils con(joivent dans la joie, mais ils engendrent dans la douleur" (V. Dover : 1975, p.46). This quotation could be more or less translated as : "The insurers are like women, they conceive in joy, but they give birth in pain." Once one has admitted this idea, everything in the practice of insurance becomes clearer. 44 111-2 Financial Problems The -financial problems in the practice of marine cargo insurance in Cameroon have several aspects. 111-2.1 Statement of Outstanding Premiums One of the most important aspects of the financial problems for insurance companies is the statement of their outstandings, which represented about 70% of the total of all the premiums of the insurance business in 1989, and put the insurance companies in a very critical situation. How could this situation occur and to such an extent ? According to the majority of the insurance companies, it is due to the dishonesty of the intermediaries in general. As a matter of fact, the intermediaries of insurance and particularly the fishy brokers, have a very bad reputation in keeping the premiums the assured pays and not in handing them over to the insurers. It is the usual practice that the assured gives the amount of premium determined to his broker and the latter will hand over that amount to the insurer minus his brokerage. This should be done without any delay as soon as the contract of insurance is concluded. The broker should not have to keep this amount of money which does not belong to him. The fact that the insurer does not receive the premium could make the contract of insurance voi d. That brings to mind the question of why the insurance 45 companies go on concluding contracts when they are not having the premiums paid. To that question, some insurers answer that they avoid using the broker’s services and they deal directly with the assured. However, they are -facing the same problem with some assured persons who do not pay their premiums too. They argue that the assured is going from one insurer to another and acting in the same way. Why can insurers continue to issue certificates of insurance when they cannot trust their clients ? It is obvious that if the premium is not paid, the insurer cannot cover the cargo since insurance is a commodity for which you have to pay before delivery, if there is ever any delivery. That means that the insurer should have the premium paid, and it is with the amount of premiums that he can make provision for the indemnity to be paid in case of occurrence of any damage or loss. This situation may quite well be the consequence of the practice of issuing complaisant certificates, knowing that no claim is going to be put since the certificate is just used for customs purposes by shippers who know that their cargo has arrived and apparently in safe condition. Another point is to know whether, after taking delivery of the goods, it might not happen that the assured is faced with some loss or damage of goods, in which case, he will naturally put in a claim and will be waiting to be indemnified. That will raise another question of financial problems. Indeed, if the assured is given a certificate 46 of insurance at a very low rate of premium, and assuming that the premium was paid but that the certificate is all the same a complaisant one, then in this case, if any loss or damage occurs, the assured will expect to be indemnified properly. However, this compensation will be difficult since the policy which he will have contracted at a very low cost will not cover his cargo properly. From this point the problem of non-payment of claims could start. 111-2.2 Non-payment of claims Most of the time, the claims are not paid for due to two main reasons. The first reason is that the insurance companies have not enough reserves left to enable them to face claims. Most of them attribute this situation to the big outstandings, what is partly quite true, but this cannot be the only reason for not paying the indemnities. The reason is that the assured is not aware of the formalities to be carried out to put in a claim. That creates a situationt where there are great delays in providing the different certificates needed take place. Sometimes, the insurance companies do not pay because they put forward the fact that it is too late for them to claim against the carrier or any other person responsible. On the other hand, the insurers also hold the carriers responsible or more exactly the judiciary which, in the case of the claim reaching this stage, cannot handle it properly, having no specialized magistrates on the matter. Another fact is that Cameroon is applying the 1924 Hague Rules Convention which, as everyone knows, favour the shipowners and carriers. The Cameroonian 47 Merchant Shipping Code based on the 1924 Hague Rules is even more favourable to the carriers. In addition, up to now, Cameroon has not ratified the Hamburg Rules which are more well-balanced and take into account the shippers’ problems concerning claims against the shipowners/carriers. The last point is that the assured on the whole, for his part, puts forward the bad will of the insurers who do not want to pay the claims even when the latter have provided them with all the papers required. As a matter of fact, according to the assured, it is quite usual for compensation to take place six months later. Of course, this cannot easily be explained to someone who has suffered a loss and who is waiting to be indemnified. From that, the assured draws the conclusion that the insurers are reluctant to pay the indemnity. Moreover, having no feedback in general from the insurers, which could make them change their opinion, they spread the idea that the insurance business is a tricky one. All this results from the problem of having no real communication between the assured and the insurers. Which leads to the next problem. 111-3 Lack of communication The fact that the assured is not properly informed of what he should do when damage or loss occurs is the very sign of lack of communication between the assured and the insurer, or between the assured and the broker, when an intermediary is involved. Lack of communication is 48 sometimes the origin ot the non-payment of claims because of delay in dealing with the procedure of different formalities. If the assured is not properly informed as to what he should do when there is occurrence of loss or damage, he cannot do what he is supposed to. Now, this information should be given either by the insurer himself or by the broker while the contract is concluded, and the assured should be reminded as soon as the damage occurs. It seems that the assured, once he has paid the premium, is left on his own which should not be so. The relationship between the insurer or broker and the assured should be permanent, so far as they are in business together. In the same way, the broker and the insurer should keep close contact in case the broker is the intermediary and even more there should be some cooperation between them, being both insurance professionals. There is lack of cooperation in the insurance business in Cameroon, which is also a source of problems which could not otherwise exist or could be solved easily. 111-4 Lack of cooperation Lack of cooperation is another important problem for the insurance business. Consider cooperation between the insurer and the broker. When a broker is used as an intermediary, he represents the assured. Thus, he is the one who must keep a close relationship with the insurer, since they work together for the assured, and moreover, they are involved in the practice of insurance, which the 49 assured does not. However, with reference to the problem of the fishy brokers who misappropriate the premiums, it is quite certain that the relations between the brokers and the insurers cannot be good at all. In this case what can be done ? Taking into consideration the great part a broker can play in the insurance business, this lack of cooperation and trust is something very harmful to the profession. In fact, the broker is useful to the profession, at least when he does his job correctly. Another point of lack of cooperation is the one between the insurer and the assured in order to prevent damage occurrence. As seen-before, damage due to bad or no proper packaging occurs very often. The better the goods are packed, the more secure the cargo will be, so, both insurer and assured should try to find solutions to this problem and they can only do that if there is cooperation between them. Earlier, it was^seen that some insurers deal directly with the assureds, and sometimes those latter do not pay their premiums and go from one insurer to another. Lack of cooperation between insurers themselves is then regrettable. Indeed, this kind of situation would occur very seldom if the insurers cooperated ; and this specific case of dishonest clients, they could work together to show them up and to harry them. The lack of cooperation between the insurers adds to the mistrust of the public towards them, since they are perceived as individuals trying to cheat people. 50 III-5 Mistrust of the public This point is a very difficult one. The public in general consider insurers or insurance professionals as people who use their money to become rich, and this opinion is so wide-spread that it will take time and effort to change it. As a matter of fact, clients of insurance companies have a long list of complaints, some justified and some not. Anyhow, the problem is no longer to know if the assured is right or not, but to seek a way of restoring the reputation of the insurance business. Only insurance professionals can do something to lead the public to change its opinion towards them. This will be a very long and exacting task, because they will first have to change the way they deal with their job, to show more professionalism. III-6 Lack of professionalism Most of the points which have been reviewed earlier could also be discussed in this paragraph. Indeed, most of those points are partly, if not completely, due to the lack of professionalism. Apart from the case of the fishy brokers, which is obvious proof of pure dishonesty and thus of non prof essional i sm, even the honest professionals of marine insurance fail in achieving their duty. Taking the point of lack of communication, the fact that the insurer or the broker could not be at the 51 disposal of his client, is already a breach of professionalism. If you add to this the fact that, because of lack of information, their clients who are not aware of the practice of the business happen to lose their claims, that is a very serious mistake. Both insurers and brokers are to blame for this point, for they should show great keenness in serving their clients, and by the way, do their work properly. Moreover, they seem to forget that they can only have a business if there are people to buy insurance. Concerning the lack of cooperation, the professionals do not seem to be really involved in their job, only that could explain the existence of some of the problems which should not exist otherwise. Indeed, with more cooperation, they would find solutions to those problems altogether. That also can be considered as a lack of professionalism, since they do not care about improving their profession. They seem to work from day to day, and not to be very interested in their future. Another point is the non-payment or the delay in the payment of claims. Of course, the insurer puts forward some reasons, as seen earlier, but where the lack of professionalism intervenes is when the insurer or the broker does not find it necessary to inform the assured of what is going on, and why there is some delay in payment. Once again, the insurer behaves as if he does not need the assured, and the latter needs him. However, the most serious distortion to their profession is the fact that they help their clients to circumvent the law by issuing complaisant certificates of insurance, and to gain money -from this practice. In doing that, o-f course, they are not only dishonest themselves, but also very -far from having pro-fessional ethics. All these points cannot encourage the public to put their trust in the professionals o-f marine insurance in Cameroon. In -fact, by acting this way, insurance pro-fessionals seem to completely -forget the most important of the principles of marine insurance, which is the principle of Utmost Good Faith, which implies trust. What can be done to change this state of things ? Is there any solution to be applied which could help to improve, if not cure, the problems of the practice of marine insurance in Cameroon ? DO I V WHICH SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS ARE POSSIBLE ? Having discussed the different major problems encountered in the practice of marine cargo insurance in Cameroon, in this chapter I intend to suggest solutions which could be applied to the problems. As mentioned earlier, most of these problems are mainly related to human failings and the solutions should be specifically directed towards correcting human weaknesses. Thus, the different problems mentioned in the previous chapter will be discussed step by step and some questions that were put when the problems were posed will be answered. IV-1 Strengthening of the Regulatory System As explained before, the law rendering insurance of imports compulsory has been circumvented almost since its enforcement. Moreover, this law is only applicable for "FAP Sauf" cover and not for "All Risks" cover. Now, should it be different if the "All Risks" cover was made compulsory ? The answer which comes to mind immediately is "yes". Yes, because the shippers will be obliged anyway to insure their goods. For the time being, the goods imported are often insured abroad. The problem of insurance is not crucial 54 •for the importers, since their goods are insured by the seller up to the port of arrival. If the "All Risks" was compulsory, it is quite certain that people would have more difficulties in breaking the law. Indeed, the cost to pay would be higher and they would not be willing to pay for two insurance policies as they do now, that means paying for their goods on a CIF basis and buying an "All Risks" cover for the same goods locally. In fact, the problem considered this way could only be solved with importers buying on a FOB basis. It is true that the shippers complain that insurance bought locally is much more expensive, but having no choice, they will try to reduce their expenses in subscribing to only one pol icy. However, it is not certain at all that the importers will accept the obligation to buy an "All Risks" policy so easily, and something should be done to make people to subscribe locally without any constraint. First of all, the Authority in charge of International Trade in the country should help importers to understand the importance for the country and for themselves of buying "FOB". Once they know why it is vital for the economy and in addition for them to buy on an FOB basis, they will consequently understand the need to insure locally. As a matter of fact, the disease should be taken at the root, and the Administration responsible must dedicate 55 itsel-f to educating people involved in international trade. Thus, the Chamber o-f Commerce for example could organize seminars for external traders on how and why to buy "FOB" and to sell "CIF". Of course, it is not so easy as it seems, but at least, it should be tried. Actually, when people are obliged to do something, they often try, in one way or another to get out of doing it, so that, if the "All ' Risks" cover were made compulsory, it might go through the same failure as the "FAR Sauf". Thus, the best way could be to keep things as they are now. That means, having the law rendering insurance of imports compulsory, but the Authority in charge of enforcing the law should be more involved in the control of its actual application. At the same time, measures should be taken in accordance by the Ministry in charge of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and the insurance professionals to change the habits of the economic operators involved in international trade. * According to how things are explained to people, this initiative will be successful or fail. As discussed earlier, human beings in general do not like to be forced to obey a law the importance of which they do not see. They prefer to be part of a decision, to be involved.and to be asked their opinion. In that manner, one can easily make them act the way the law wants them to. This way of strengthening the regulatory system might seem somewhat unusual but it could be a solution to the problem posed by the breach of law. This should not prevent the Authorities from firmly penalising the infringers by instituting a fine, and this should be strictly applied. 56 Another important measure would be to appoint some persons well aware of the practice of insurance at the points of delivery of goods. These persons would then be the actual controllers who will verify the certificates of insurance in order to determine which insurance company or which broker has issued them. Indeed, the broker can provide the assured with the certificate, but the certificate should be countersigned by the insurance company co'i'ering the risks and normally the headed note paper of the company should be used. Thus, if ever it is made clear that the certificate is a false one, the broker and the insurance company could also be sued and fined. As a matter of fact, the assured cannot be the only one to be held guilty since he can only get the certificate through either the insurer or the broker. IV-2 Solutions to the Financial Problems IV-2.1 Control of the Financial Situation of the Insurance Companies Financial control by the Authority should be made first when the candidates to the profession ask for their approval, and later on, control should take place at the time of the establishment of the insurance company. In fact, this is provided by Law No 85/03 relating to insurance business, but it is not strictly applied. This provision requires that the control be made by insurance controllers appointed by the Ministry of Finance. During the exercise of the profession, regular controls should be made periodically of the accounts of the companies to make 57 sure they have enough reserves -for the payment of claims. IV-2.2 Statement of the Outstanding Premiums Concerning this problem, the insurance companies could take some measures to stop the practice of embezzlement of premiums by the brokers and the non payment by the assured. Indeed, since most of the insurance companies complain about this malpractice, they should be very careful when they have to conclude a contract with a broker or a client. This means that they should not trust anybody and that they must have their regular clients or brokers with whom they do business. For the others, the insurers should wait for the payment of the premiums before issuing any certificate of insurance. Moreover, they could ask for a guarantee for payment when concluding the contract. Maybe in practice it is not so easy to select clients since the companies heed them to run their business, but things being as they are in the market, it would be better for them to have less clients, but clients who pay. Furthermore, one can still be selective and earn money. In addition, this selection could be useful to the profession. As a matter of fact, if people know the insurance companies may refuse to insure their goods or if the brokers know they could be blacklisted, that could make them think before trying to cheat the insurance companies or their clients. Thus, the insurance companies can do much themselves to help their profession. 58 IV-2.3 Security for claims payment The other aspect o-f -financial problems is the non payment o-f claims which is crucial -for the assured, and the latter are powerless to protect themselves. One solution could be to control the state o-f the provisions of companies. Those controls should be made periodically and should concern the audit of the accounts of the companies throughout the exercise of the profession. The control should be very strict, since the security of the assured depends on it, and it could only be efficient if the Authority in charge does it seriously. This control also has provision in Part IV of Law No 85/03, but the enforcement is somewhat neglected. Obviously, the supervisory Authority has a lot of work to carry out to put the insurance business in order. IV-2.4 Settlement of Claims against Carriers Finally, the judicial system dealing with claims against carriers, should be reviewed. Indeed, the insurers face big difficulties in paying claims against shipowners or carriers held responsible. When they are paid, the amount is so trifling compared to the cargo insured that it does not help enough to even collect it sometimes. To solve this problem, several changes are needed, and all of these changes are within the competence of the government. First of all, the judicial system should be adapted to handle cargo marine claims. This adaptation means in fact that the government or any competent Authority should appoint persons with a Maritime Law background, who could 59 help the magistrates any time such claims are to be arbitrated. If possible, those persons should be members of an Arbitration Court. With those lawyers, Senior Officers in shipping and navigation could be appointed so that a team of maritime specialists be set up to deal with the claims, which would be of great help. Next, the Merchant Shipping Code dated 31 March 1962 should be reviewed. In fact, it is under revision now and it is hoped that its provisions concerning the settlement of claims against the shipowners/carriers will no longer be based on the Hague/Visby Rules. This takes us to the final point which is the importance for the country of adopting the Hamburg Rules of 1978. The ratification of this Convention and its application would help the shippers’interests and in the same way the insurers'. Thus, the Administration and the different professional groups interested in this ratification should work together to show the importance of this convention so that the government decides to adopt it. IV-3 Training of Insurance Professionals Apart from problems such as the regulatory ones and some financial problems, almost all of them could be solved if insurance professionals dealt with their work with more professionalism. The insurance professionals and particularly the insurers and the brokers should have a perfect knowledge of the techniques of marine cargo insurance as well as the commercial and judicial practices related to it. 60 Of course this knowledge is acquired by attending specialised lectures on the subject, insurance being a very specialised business, but for those graduates who enter the profession without any specialisation, some seminars could be organised for them by the whole body of the profession. This would be a great help to them and more so for their companies. As a matter of fact, attending seminars where all kinds of problems related to the profession are raised can be useful for those employees not very used to the practice of marine insurance. Even professionals with more knowledge should attend those seminars regularly in order to refresh their knowledge and to be in contact with other professionals to share their views and ideas. However, the day to day practice is also very important. Most people employed in the business of insurance in Cameroon are neither graduates nor specialists. They are moderately educated persons who entered the profession and learnt the practice during on- the-job training. Among them, very good experienced professionals can be found, and for that kind of personnel, seminars are very important. Companies could also organise internal training sessions periodically for their technical clerks and agents. Marine insurance deals with two concerns which are basically international (international trade and maritime transport). The training of professionals of marine insurance will do more to keep them informed of the changes or innovation occurring in the practice of insurance itself and in commercial or transport fields, 61 and obviously, this needs a regular up-date of their requirements. Generally speaking, training is held in order to improve the practice of the business by the professionals. Actually, people involved in the business at different levels have said that if it is indispensable for an insurance company to have specialists, it is also indispensable for those specialists to have good personal qualities to be successful in business. That is to say that someone could be an expert in insurance and fail in business, if he does not have the qualities required. Those qualities required are by and large the following : discipline, integrity or honesty, a good sense of communication, flexibility and... aggressiveness. IV-4 Cooperation between Professionals Actual cooperation between insurers and brokers could give the marine cargo insurance market in Cameroon a quite different face. Indeed, most of the problems the business is facing now would not even exist if both insurers and brokers performed their duties seriously and in cooperation. The insurer should have a good relationship with the broker representing the assured in order to serve the interests of the client adequately. Cooperation amongst them would make things easier for both parties. If there are any problems, both broker and insurer could find easier solutions to them if there is concerted action. As a matter of fact, the broker should have practically the same knowledge of the practice of insurance as the insurer, so, when damage or loss occurs. 62 the broker should be the one dealing with the insurer. It is really in such a case that he actually has the opportunity to put his knowledge at the service of the assured and to play the part of an intermediary, but in close cooperation with the insurer. This would serve the interests of all the parties, and problems such as non payment of claims due to non—provisi on of documents required by the insurer could not happen. Of course, this cooperation should start from the beginning, that is to say from the negotiation of the contract, if both insurer and broker keep in mind that they are at the service of the assured even if they make their money by serving him. Thus, this cooperation must be an honest one. The insurer and the broker must be honest, vis-a-vis each other, and even more towards the assured. In fact, with good cooperation, it will be quite difficult for the broker to misappropriate the premiums, having a close relationship with the insurer. Besides cooperation between insurer and broker, there is cooperation between insurers themselves. This cooperation is quite different from the previous one and has different objectives. Insurers need to cooperate to be able to solve any problem they face in the practice of their business. If one takes the problem of non-payment of premiums, the insurers could get rid of this dishonest and regrettable practice through concerted action, but it is imperative for them to work together to be successful. The other important point for which cooperation is necessary is co-insurance. The market is poor, due partly to the -financial weakness o-f the insurance companies. This reason is the one put -forward by -foreigners who re-fuse to insure in Cameroon. They add that the Cameroonian insurance companies are not able to handle big claims. They are right to some extent, and the only way the insurers could solve this problem would be to practice co-insurance which is widely practiced in other places. This practice is quite usual and it helps companies to do business and be confident in their involvement in the case of any damage or loss. Instead of acting alone with difficulty, it is in the interests of the companies to put their efforts together when necessary. This will not be prejudicial to their business, on the contrary it will give more credit to the profession. Sometimes, the fact that one can share is a proof of maturity. Moreover, the insurers, as mentioned earlier, need to meet regularly to discuss the different problems faced in the fulfilment of th#ir duties. They could then try to find solutions to the problems and to submit their claims, if any, to their supervisory Authority. To have more impact, this should be done through an Association and not individual1y. In fact, this association exists but it does not deal with things which could be of real interest for the profession. Once again, the insurers are the only persons able to improve their profession ; for example, this Association and the meetings it could sponsor could become a forum from which new ideas would be generated for the benefit of business. 64 IV-5 Improved Communication between Assured and Insurer/Broker Any relationship between humans is based upon communication. Without exchange of views, information and knowledge, a lot of business could not be fulfilled ; and this can be applied to the insurance business which may more than others need an exchange of information. Thus, if for any reason it happens that the insurer and the assured cannot communicate when dealing with a contract of insurance, it almost surely ends with problems. Consequently, the need for communication is very important, and in the particular case of insurers and the assureds in Cameroon, the insurers should try to give more information to their clients who are very often ignorant of insurance practice. Then, it is the duty of the insurers or the brokers to give detailed information concerning the contract of insurance which they are going to conclude. Indeed, the fact that the assured does not know much about what is going on is a source of misunderstanding. Thus, by explaining everything to him, including the content of the contract, as different formalities to be performed in case of loss or damage occurrence, they can avoid problems. This information should be delivered at the time of the conclusion of the contract, but this does not mean that the insurer or the broker after this conclusion should leave the assured on his own. In the case of any loss or damage, they, and more particularly the broker, 65 should keep in close contact with the assured and should lead him in his search -for the different documents required by the insurer. The broker in fact should remind the assured of every step of the formalities procedure until the latter has got every single document needed for his claim. The broker's duty is to help the assured be satisfied and receive his compensation. □f course, the assured also has a duty to give all information known by him on the object of the contract, and this information must be correct and true. Consequently, both parties have to give necessary information to each other in order to successfully achieve the contract of insurance. The insurer being the seller has more of an obligation with respect to information and advice vis-a- vis his client. This share of information and dialogue could have more positive results as far as the assured's opinion of the insurers goes. It could lead to more trust from the assured. As a matter of fact, the assured needs to see that the insurers care about their problems ; and if the latter shows any concern by either communicating with them, informing them, or in short, by keeping in touch with them, this would be a cause for satisfaction and faith. IV-6 Public Awareness of the Importance of Marine Cargo Insurance " No commercial contract generates such emotional outbursts at times as does an insurance policy. The starting point for such feelings is partly summed up in bh the old adage that insurance is ’sold not bought’. Thus the general public do not happily go out to buy an insurance policy as they do to buy a car or a television set. They buy a policy with some reluctance. It all goes well they will pay their premiums and not make any claim" This long quotation explains quite well the state o-f mind of the public towards the insurance business. In the case of this quotation, the public is the British one which is supposed to be well informed as to how things stand, owing to the preeminence and the professionalism of its market. Then, if you add to this natural reluctance towards insurance the fact that the Cameroonian public is not actually aware of the importance of marine cargo insurance, one can see how difficult and what a long time it will be to change its mentality. As mentioned earlier, the insurers should educate the public. They should in a concerted way organise information days during which they would be at the entire disposal of the public to explain everything people would like to know and to answer their questions. Moreover, they could distribute questionnaires to the public to find out what they know about insurance and what they expect from it when they buy it. The insurers should demonstrate very clearly which risks goods could run without insurance during the different stages of transport up to the final destination. They should be as precise as possible when explaining that to the public. In fact, this should be convincing enough 67 to make the public think seriously about it. There should be a regular dialogue between the insurers and the assured ; indeed, it is not in one meeting that things will change. The insurers have to be patient, but they have a great interest in trying to make people understand why insurance is important -for them. At the Same time, by having those regular open meetings with the public, they will perhaps succeed in restoring their reputation, and actually, they really need to change the widespread bad reputation which they carry. 68 CONCLUSION Cameroon has set up basic structures -for a marine insurance industry by laying down some regulations, but it appears -from the different problems considered that these structures are not sufficient for the good achievement of business. The decision for this set up which is also not successful, as seen previously, was made in order to avoid the exodus of capital. Cameroon has then much work to do in order to be able to control the situation. If the government is the main body which should be involved in this work since it has to take care of the interests of the country, insurance professionals and all other professional groups involved in the business, by and large, should try to find solutions at their levels. Up to now, one individual solution has been found. Indeed, one national private insurance company, C N A ( Compagnie Nationals d’Assurances ), has signed a Protocol of Cooperation for the insurance of goods with CAMSHIP, the National Shipping Company, both companies searching to improve their performance. The two main objectives of this protocol are to give a better protection to the shippers’cargo and to reduce the procedures for compensation. 69 In practice, the application o-f this agreement will be the -following : only CAMSHIP will deal with the shipper and it will, as such, issue the certificate of insurance and make the payment of claims locally as well as abroad where it has representatives in different ports. This will allow claims to be placed abroad without difficulties, which was almost impossible since the national insurers do not necessarily have representatives or insurance companies with which they work With this agreement, foreign traders should be less reluctant to insure their goods in Cameroon. Indeed, the problem of payment of claims is the one put forward by the foreign traders. Therefore, if they know that they would be paid by the shipping company carrying their goods itself, this would be more acceptable to them, since the shipping company has representatives in their countries. The agreement also forecasts that the payment could take place not later than one month after the arrival of the ship. In addition, the fact that the shippers will only have to address CAMSHIP and do not go through the numerous formalities they would have to in the case of a claim should make things easier for them. This protocol of cooperation is a very good way to try to stop the capital exodus from the country which takes place when goods are insured abroad. Thus, in practice, when a shipper comes to ship his cargo. 70 insurance is proposed to him at the same time and he pays once -for the transport and for insurance. The protocol can be very interesting -for all the parties involved in the transport and insurance of cargo. Unfortunately, I am not aware of how this will be achieved practically. Indeed, it will be interesting to kViow how and where the coordination of the work will be done. However, it can be presumed that C N A will put some agents at the disposal of CAMSHIP every time that one vessel receives the shipment or the application for shipment, and the certificates of insurance will be prepared and issued as a consequence. Once more, it is a very interesting initiative that CAMSHIP and CNA have had. The only thing which is regrettable is that since CAMSHIP does not have enough capacity, only a small percentage of the goods will benefit from that agreement, and it would be a good thing to extend this agreement to other shipping companies. The problem is to know if and how private national insurance companies could approach some other shipping companies which call into Cameroonian ports and conclude such agreements with them. Indeed, this would be a success if the insurance companies could be convincing enough to attract foreign shipping companies to work together. The insurance companies should try to find a strategy to gain these foreign companies trust. Of course, it is not sure that many of them would accept, but if only some of them agree, it would be a good start. Anyhow, it would be sad if whilst having this opportunity, they could not achieve it. 71 It is with such initiatives that the insurers could help their pro-fession and at the same time help their clients and a country where the economic situation is dramatic. Any idea is welcome as -far as it can help to improve the situation. Apart -from such initiatives, more important is the radical change in attitudes which is necessary. This change should be general, this means that also the public, amongst whom the potential clients are -Found, as the pro-fessionals and any other group involved. Everyone should do his best to help in the achievement of this problem. As one Cameroonian proverb says, " One hand cannot tie a parcel " ; that means that the collaboration of everyone is needed for the successful accomplishment of a task. Thus, as was mentioned before, the government will teach people that they should buy "FOB" and it will prepare regulations accordingly. It will also perform its job efficiently and control the whole business the way it should be done. The assureds should be honest and should try to understand the importance of being informed and knowing how things in which they are involved work. Finally, the insurance professionals should be more conscientious, more cooperative and over all more aware of the importance of communication and earnestness in the practice of their profession. 72 The last point to make in this conclusion is that one should be aware that, apart from all the problems discussed in this project, one problem that was not mentioned and which could be considered as an obstacle to the achievement of many improvements, is the fact that the effects of colonization are still hanging over the country. These effects determine, to a great extent, the rules of commercial practice. This is general to most countries which have not had their independence long enough for the practices and traditions of colonial times to be modified and reoriented in the best interests of the independent nation. It will take time before a country actually feels free to deal with its own business and problems the way it would like to, without any constraints from partners, even if it has the economic means to do so, but sooner or later, this time will come. While waiting for that time to come, therefore, work has to be done on the people ; desperate and regular work to change the attitude and the mentality of those people. That is the first step. Once this step is crossed, it will be easier for the people to understand why they are asked by their government to adopt that way of trading and not another, for example. This obviously will not change the rules of the game of international relations, but at least the whole country will know more or less what is going on, and why it should act this way and not in another way. As soon as people are aware of the reason for things, the problems of marine cargo insurance in Cameroon will be partly solved. 73 ANNEX I LAW No. 75~i4 OF 3 DECEHBER 197 RENDERING INSURANCE OF IMPORTS COMPULSORY. 210 JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA REPUBLIQUE UNIE DU CAMEROUN 15 dec. 1975 Loi a“ 75-14 du 8 d6cembre 1975 Low No. 75-14 oi 8 December 1975 f)oriant Q’SKuraiice ohligatoire des nutrcliandisex ou faoultes retideHuff insurance of imports compulsory. d Viinportation. The .National .Assembly deliberated and adopted, L’.\.‘5.semlilf<' nationale a dfilibiri ct adoptf, The l’re.sident of the Republic enacts the law set out below: Ije J'rdsidenl de la Rdpubliqne promulgiie la loi dont la leneiir suit ; Article premier. — Le.s personnes physiques ou morales de 1. (1) All natural persons and corporate bodies under droit public ou priv6 sont assujetties a I’obligation de sous- public or private law shall be bound to take out insurance crire une assurance aupres d’une entreprise d’assurance agr66e in respect of all imports into the United Republic o^ Came an Cameronn pour toute importation de marchandises ou roon with an insurance concern holding approval in Cameroon. facultds sur le territoirc de la R^publique unie du Cameroun. Cette as.surance pent i-tre souscrite directement auprfes de (2) Such insurance may be taken out directly with concerns Forganisnie vise d l’alin6a precedent ou par I’intermddiaire des referred to in (1) above or through the intermediary of natural pci’sonne.s physiques ou morales habilitces conform^ment la liersons or corporate bodies empowered under the regulations reglementatioii eu vigueuv <\ presenter des operations da.ssu- ill force 1(1 transact insurance in Cameroon. ranee au Cameroun. Art. — I'd decret fi.ve les coiulitions d’application de la 2. Tile terms and conditions of application of the present preseiite loi. iiotiunment la valeur minima des marchandises Law, and in particular the minimum value of imports for ou faoultes importees a partir de laquelle il y a obligation which insurance shall be com)iul.sory and the production and d’assurance, ainsi que les modalitAs d’dtablissement et de j validity of insurance certificates, shall be prescribed by decree. validite des documents justifleatifs d’assurance. Art. — Toute infraction aux dispositions de Particle 1" 3. Any offence against the provisions of .Section 1 above ci-de.ssus est puuie d’une amende egale a 25 % de la valeur de shall be punishable by fine equivalent to twenty-five per cent la marchandise ou faculty importee et d’un emprisonnement of the value of the goods imported and by imprisonment not de douze mois maximum ou de I’une de ces deux peines seule- exceeding twelve months, or one or other such penalty only. ment. '• • -I. This Law shall be regi.stered and published in the 0//i- 4. — La pr^sente loi sera enrogistree et publiee au ciiil (lazelte in French and English. .Inurnal o/ffo-io/ en franyais et .cn anglais.------_ ...... Yaounde; 8 December 1975;--• ...... Yaounde, Ic 8 decembre 1975. Ki, TT.'iii.i .-\hmadou .-Vhid.10. El. II.ID.I -tU.MiPOU Ahidjo. ANNEX II DECF-?EE No. 76-334 OF 6 AUGUST 1976, RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW No. 75-14 OF 8 DECEMBER 1975 RENDERING INSURANCE OF IMPORTS COMPULSORY. Okret n° 76-334 du 6 tout 1976 Decree No. 76-334 of 6 August 1976 ortant application de la loi n° 75-14 du 8 decemhre 1975 relating to the implementation of Law No. 75-14 of endant obligatoire I'assurance des marchandises oufacul- S December 1975 rendering insurance of imports tes a I'importation. compulsory. Le President de la K£publique, i ME President on the Republic, Vu U constitution du 2 juin 1972, modiilee et contpletee par la loi n 75-1 Mindful of the Constitution of 2 June 1972 as amended by Law No. 75-1 9 mai 1975 ; of 9 May 1975 ; Vu I’ordonnance n* 73-14 du 10 mai 1973 fixant la tegl'U'tntstion applica- Mindiul 01 ^Trdinance No. 73-14 of 10 May 1973 to lay down regulations aux opuations d'assuiance ; applicable to insurance concerns ; Vu la loi n“ 75-14 du 8 decembre 1975 rendant obligatoire I’assurance des Mindful of Law No. 75-14 of 8 December 1975 rendering insurance of ichandises ou facultes a I'importation; imports compulsory , D^CBiix: Hereby decrees as nollows: Article premier.- L’obligalion d’assurance instituee par 1. The insurance obligation instituted by Section 1 of irticle de la loi n° 75-14 du 8 ddcembre 1975 susvisee Law No. 75-14 of 8 December 1975 referred to above shall : s’applique qu’aux marchandises ou facultes importees apply solely to imports whose FOB value exceeds 500,000 mt la valeur FOB excede 500.000 francs CFA. CFA francs. ^.rt. 2.- Le mode d’assurance est librement iixefix6 p ^rt. 3.— Les risques laissds A la charge de I’assurd en cas 3. The Tisks to be borne by the msured in the case where souscription d’une garantie autre que « Tous risques » ne an insurance policy other than a « Comprehensive risks » went etre assures, le cas dchdant qu’aupres d un organis- one has been taken out may only be insured, as the case : d’assurance agr66 en Rdpublique unie du Cameroun. may be with an insurance concern approved in the United Republic of Cameropir. Art. 4.— Les marchandises ou facultes transportdes doi- nt etre garanties depuis le port ou I’adroport d embarque- 4. The goods or cargo transported must be insured from snt jusqu’au port ou adroport de ddbarquement. the port or airport of lading until the port or airport of deli- Les parties peiivent toutefois conve^ d’une couverture veiy. assurance portant sur les risques preliminaires et compie- The parties may, however, agree to an insurance coverage entaires au voyage maritime ou a6rien. for preliminary or supplementary risks of travel by sea or air. Art. 5.- L’organisme d’assurance doit d^livrer sans frais l’assur6 un document justificatif d assurance. 5. The insurance concern must deliver free of charge to La pi^somption qu’il a dtd satisfait k I’obliption d’«^- the insured, an insurance certificate. ince est Stablie par ce document pour la p6riode qui y The presumption that the insurance obligation has been it mentionn^e. met shall be established by this document for the period sta Art. 6.— Le document justificatif vis6 i I’article pr6cd- ted therein. ent est ddlivrd immddiatement k la souscription du con- 6 The insurance certificate referred to in the preceding •at et renojiveld lors de la reconduction dudit contrat ou article shall be issued immediately on signing the contract e la mise en vigueur en cas de suspension. and shall be renewed during the renewal of the said contract or the putting into force of the latter in the event of suspen-. Art. 7.-1 La ddlivrance ou le rehouvellement de toute sion. icence d’importation doit etre subordonnde k ia production —n-The-issue-or-jenewal-of.aiiyJmpoillicencgj5liall-b6-SU.b-. lu document Justiticauf d’ ject to the presentation of the insurance certificate reterred i-dessus. to in Articles 5 and 6 hereinabove. Art. 8.- En cas de perte ou de vol du document justifica- 8. In the event of loss or theft of the insurance certifica if d’assurance, I’assureur ou I’autorite compdteqte ddlivxe te the insurer or the competent authority shall issue a m duplicata sur, simple demande de la personnd au protit duplicate at the simple request of the person in whose name ie laquelle le document original avait 6tabli. the original certificate was established. Art. 9.- La forme et le contenu du document justifica- 9. The form and content of the insurance certificate shall tif d’assurance devant etre dtabli suivant un modele fixe par be established according to the model fixed by order. irrete. Ar+. 10.- Un arretd conjoint du ministre des finances et 10. A joint order of the Minister of Finance and of the du n listre de Teconomie et du plan fixe les conditions Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning shall fix the d’application des dispositions qui prdeddent aux contrats terms and conditions of application of provisions prior to d’importatioh en coiirs d’exdcution k la date de signature import contracts in the course of execution on the date ol du prdsent decret. signature Of this decree. Le meme arrete ddtermine les modalites de controle The same order shall determine the methods of control applicable -to imports not subject to prior authorization. applicable aux importations non soumises k autonsation prdalable. 11. This decree which takes effect from the date of signa ' Art. 11.- Le prdsent ddcret qui prend effet pour compter ture shall be published according to the procedure of urgen de la date de signature sera publid selon la procedure cy and inserted in the Official Gazette in French and d’urgence et insdrd iu-Journal officiel tn franqais ct en English. anglais. Yaounde, 6 August 1976. Yaoundd, le 6 aout 1976. El Hadj Ahmadou Ahidjo, Trf! Pritident dc la RipubUque, ANNEX III ORDINANCE No. 85-3 OF 31 AUGUST 19B RELATING TO INSURANCE BUSINESS. OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE BEPUBLIC OF CAMEEOON 3199 15 Seiit. 19S5 Ordonnance n° 85-03 du 31 aout 1985 Ordinance No. 85-3 of 31 August 1985 relative a Vexercice de Vactivite d’assurance. relating to insurance business. Le President de la Republique, The President of the Republic, Mindful of the Constitution; Vu h Constitution, Mindful of Law No. 85-1 of 29 June 1985 : Finance Law of the Republic of Vu la loi n° 85-01 du 29 juin 1985 portant loi de finances 1985-1986, Cameroon for the financial year 1985-1986. Ordonne: Hereby ordains as follows: TITRE PREMIER PART I J)ispositions genirales. General Provisions. CHAPTER I CHAPITRE PREMIER Des societes et intermedkires d'assurances. Insurance Companies and Direct Agents. Article.premier.- A I’exception des soci6t6s ou institutions de 1. The provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to all insurance and pievoyance publiques ou privees rSgies par des lois spdciales et des or- capital accumulation of public or private provident societies or insti ganismes ayant exclusivement pour objet la reassurance, sont soumses tutions governed by special laws and concerns whose sole purpose is aux dispositions de la presentc ordonnance, toutes les socidtes d’assu- reinsurance which; rances et de capitalisation qui: (1) Contractent; des engagements dont rexdcution depend de la (1) Enter into obligations the fulfilment of which depends on the' dur^e de la vie humaine, s’engagent ^ verser un capital eii cm de ma- length of the life of a human being, undertake to pay a benefit in the riage ou de naissance d'enfant ou ont pour objet 1 acquisition d im- event of marriage or birth of a child, or are directed to the acquisition meubles au moyen de la'constitution des rentes viageres; of real property by means of life annuities. (2) Font appel i I’epargne en vue de la capitalisation et contractent, (2) Offer a means of saving with a view to the accumulation of ca en dchange de versements uniques ou periodiques directs ou indirects pital and enter into specific obligations in return for direct or indirect des'engagements determines. single or periodical, payments. (3) Pratiquent^des operations d’assurances autres que celles prevues (3) Carry out insurance transactions other than those provided for aux alineas 1 et 2 ci-dessus et s’engagent, moyennant une prime ou co- in paragraphs_1_and 2 above, undertake in return for a premiurn pr^, ~~tisationv '^"pTOcejer ■^Tinrindemnisationen casdeTealisationdunris-— contribution, to pay a¥enefit in the event of a claim. que; (4) Effectuent des operations de reassurance. (4) Carry out reinsurance business. Art. 2.- Sont egalement soumis aux dispositions de la presente or 2. All direct insurance agents whose job consist in seeking or obtai donnance, tous les inteimediaires d’assurances dontle role consiste k ning the conclusion of an insurance contract or the accumulation of solliciter ou a recueillir la souscription d’un contrat d assurance ou de capital, or accession to such a contract shall also be subject to the pro capitalisation ou I’adhesion ^ un tel contrat. visions of this ordinance. 3. (1) Insurance companies shall be registered under Cameroonian Art. 3.- (1) Les societes d’assurances doivent etre de statut juiidi- law.' que camerounais. (2) Le capital social des societes anonymes d’assurances dont le mi (2) The registered capital of limited liability insurance conipatiies nimum est fixe par decret, comporte une participation des interets the minimum of which shall be fixed by decree shall Comprise private camerounais, prives ou publics, au moins dgale au tiers de son moft- or public Cameroonian shares at least equal to one third of its amount. tant. (3) En outre, les statuts doivent prevoir que tous droits preferen- (3) In addition, the rules and regulations shall provide that all tran tiels de souscription, tous droits d’attribution, toutes mutations d ac sactions relating to preferential rights of subscription,attribution rights tions ne peuvent s’opdrer que si celles-ci ont ete prealablement offer- or transfer of shares can only be carried put if the latter have been of tes it I’Etat camerounais. fered to the State of Cameroon beforehand. (4) Par derogation aux dispositions ci-dessus. certains souscripteurs (4) Notwithstanding the provisions herein above, some foreign un- etrangers peuvent etre autori^s a pratiquer des operations d’assuran derw'riters may be authorized to carry out insurance transactions iti the ces en Republique du Cameroon dans les conditions qui sont fixees Republic of Cameroon under conditions which shall be fixed by a spe par un texte particulier. cial instrument. Art. 4.- Le capital social des societes de courtage d’assurances doit 4. The registered capital of brokerage firms involved in the under- comporter une participation dcs interets prives camerounais au moins writing of insurance contracts shall comprise private Cameroonian sha- CIIAI'TI-.R II CHAPITRI- 2 Domiciliation of insurance contracts. De la domiciliation des contrats d'assurances. '• 5. (1) Insurance contracts covering residents,or risks or properly I\rt. 5. - (I) Les contrats d’assurances interessant les personnes ; located or registered in Cameroon, may be concluded only wiih eon- Jii la quality de resident, les risques ou lesbiens situes ou imniatri- ! cerns which are authorized to carry out insurance transactions witlim les au Cameroun. ne peuvenl etre sousciits qu’aupres des organises |«s pour effectuer des operations d’assurances sur le terntoire de la ; the Republic of Cameroon. Ipublique du Cameroun. Brokers and brokerage firms involved in the undewriting ol the Ilcs courtiers ou societes de courtage intervenant insurance contracts shall have their registered office in Cameroon. . In des contrats d’assurances susvises doivent obligawirement pr siege sur le territoire national. Contracts concluded in breach of the provisions ol this ariiele shall Sont nuls et de riu! effet les contrats souscrits en infraction aux dis- be null and void. Provided that such nullity shall not be applicable to )sitions du present article. Toutefois, cette nuUite n’est pas opposa- bona fide insured persons, underwriters and beneficiaries. ; aux assures, souscripteurs et b^n^ficiaires de bonne foi. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above, the super (2) Nonobstant les dispositions de I’alinea ler ci-dessus, 1 autoritd visory authority may grant special authorizations for the insurance of ! tutelle peut d«ivrer des autorisations spectales pour 1 a^urance de special risks with non-approved insurance concerns. :ques particulieis aupres d’organismes d’assurances non agre s. Art. 6.- Les contrats d’assurances concernant les marchaiidises ou 6. Insurance contracts 'covering imported goods or cargo must he cultes a I’importation doivent etre rattaches au Cameroun si 1 assurd concluded in Cameroon where the coniractant is a resident within the la quality de resident, au sens du Code gdndral des impots. meaning of the General Tax Code. Art. 7.- (I) Les conditions g^n^rafeTet particuTteres des contrats —7. (0 Th'e~7eneraratrdlpeclarcwaTcnmrsfTOrmansxoiTCludcd or- ouscrlts ou executes en R^publique du Cameroun, les avenants et au- fulfilled in the Republic of Cameroon, endorsement and other docu res documents se rapportant a leur execution doivent etre redigds en ments relating to their fulfilment shall be drafted in English or French.. fanqais ou en anglais. (2) It shall be forbidden for natural persons with resident status and (2) 11 est interdit aux personnes physiques ayant la qualitd de rdsi- corporate bodies, for their establishments located on the territory of Jenl et aux personnes morales pour leurs etablissements situds sur le territoire de ia Republique du Cameroun, de souscrire des contrats the Republic of Cameroon to conclude direct insurance contracts or take out life annuities, in foreign currency without the special authori d’assurance directe ou de rente viagere, libellds en monnaie dtrangere, sauf autorisation speciale de l’Autorit6 competente. zation of the competent authority. (3) Contracts concluded in breach of the provisions of this article (3) Sont nuls de plein droit les contrats souscrits en infraction aux shall be null and void. Provided that such nullity shall not be applicable ispositions du present article. Toutefois, cette nullite n est pas oppo- to bona fide insured persons, underwriters and beneficiaries. able au.x assures, souscripteurs et beneficiaires de bonne fpi. CHAPITRli 3 Section 111 Guarantees for policy holders. Des garanties pour les assures. phes 1 el « ue la presenie oruuiixi«nwc, uuv . •e a suppleetsuDDleer a une insuffisance des provisions techniques et ma-; cal and actuarial provisions. thematiques. ! 1 (2) Establishment of the guarantee reserves shall exempt companies (2) La constitution de la r^seive de garantie dispense les societes ^ subject to these provisions from establishing the legal share generally soumises a cette obligation de la constitution de la reserve legale exi- ; required ofliniited liability companies. gee des societes anonymes. (3) Insurance companies carrying out the traiisaciioiis referred to (S') Les societes d’assurances pratiquant des operations viseesau pa- • in Article 1 (3) above shall show proof of a solvency margin and a gua- ragraphe 3 de I’Article ler ci-dessus doivent justifier d'une marge de soTvabilite et d’un fonds de garantie. , rantec fund. 4. The conditions for ihe constitution of the reseiw.s and the sta- (4) Les modalites de constitution et lesmoiitants reglementaircs de ; tutory amounts of the guarantee reserve, the solvencs margin and the la reserve de garantie, de la marge de solvabilite et du fonds de garan- guarantee fund shall be fixed by decree. tic sont fixes par decret. 0.(1) In all prospectuses, posters, circulars, nonces. ad\ciliscnienls Art.«). - (I) Dans tons )es prospectus..affiches. circulaircs. notices, i or documents whatsoever relating to company loans, il shall he expli- ann.'iiccs ou documents quelconques relalifs aux einprunts des socie j cilly Slated that Arlicle ^.3 of ibis-Ordinance instiuitc.s pielcicniial tes il doit cue rappele de maniere explicite qu'un privilege est instmic. : rights on behalf of policy holders and that the lender. c\cn il he is a au profit des assures, par rArticle.53 de la presente ordomiance et in- 1 policy holder enjoys no preferential right in respect of the inicicxl and '‘•■qiie (lue le pretciir. mcme s'i! est assure, ne beneficie d'aucun privile- gc po», |,.s iiuercis et le remboursemeiit de ces empnints. ■ reimbur.semcni of these loans. OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE EEPUBLIC OF CAMEROON 3201 I S..|,I i;isr, This fact shall also be clearly stated on the loan documents. Cette mention doit figurer egalement en caracteres apparents sur les litres d’empmnt. (2) II est porte chaque annee dans les charges de I’entreprise, une | (2) Each year, a fixed amount document shall be included in the expenditure of the company to cover the payment ofinterests and re somme constante destinee au paiement des interets et au rembourse- ment des emprunts ou a la constitution de la reserve pour I’amortisse- imbursement of loans or. the constitution of the reserve for the paying ment des emprunts. off of loans. Art. 10.- Dans une socite mutuelle ou dans une societe k forme 10. Members of a mutual society or a mutual insurance company mutuelle d’assurances, le socidtaire ne peut etre tenu en aucun cas ni shall under no circumstances whatever, be bound to pay amounts ex cluding the contribution shown on their policy in a company with fi au-dela de la cotisation inscrite sur sa police dans une socidte & cotisa- xed contribution nor exceeding the maximum amount of the contri tisations fixes, ni au-dela du montant maximal de cotisation indique bution shown on their policy in the' case of a company with variable sur sa police dans le cas d’une societe & cotisations variables. contributions. TITRE II PART 11 Constitution et fonctionnement des entreprises d'assurances. Constitution and functioning of insurance companies. CHAPITRE PREMIER . CHAPTER 1 Des principes ginemux. General principles. Art. 11.- (1) Les operations visees&l’Article lerdelapiisenteor- 11. (1) The transactions defined in Article 1 of this Ordinance may donnance ne peuvent etre pratiquees que par des societds de capitaux, be carried out only by capital accumulation companies, mutual insu des societds k forme mutueUe ou des socidtds mutuelles. rance companies or mutual societies. (2) Toutefois, les organismes qui se proposent de pratique! des ope (2) Provided that concerns which intend to carry out transaction rations de capitalisation ou d’acquisition d’immeubles au.moyen de relating to capital accumulation or the acquisition of real property by la constitution de rentes viageres, ne peuvent se constituer que sous la means of life annuities may be formed only as limited liability compa forme de societes anonymes. nies. Art. 12.- Les conditions de constitution , de fonctionnement, de 12. The constitution functioning and dissolution of concerns cove cessation d’activitd des organismes vises aux Articles ler, 2,3 et 4 ci- red by Articles 1,2,3 and 4 above are defined in this Ordinance and dessus sont fixdes par la pr6sente ordomiance et ses textes d’applica- the instruments implementing it. tion. CHAPTER II CHAPITRE 2 Des4oc-iete&tie-c-apitaux,------Joint stock-companies.------ Art. 13.- Les societes anonymes mentionnees a 1’Article 11 ci- 13. Limited liability companies referred to in Article 11 above shall dessus sont soumises a la legislation g6nerale applicable k cette cat6go- be governed by the general legislation applicable to this category of rie de societes, sous reserve des dispositions ci-apr^: companies, subject to the following provisions. (1) Elies doivent avoir un capital.au moins igal au montant qui est (1) The capital shall not be less than the amount to be fixed by the fixe par le decret prevu a I’Article 3 ci-dessus. decree provided for in Article 3 above. (2) Chaque actionnaire doit verser avant la constitution definitive (2) Prior to the final incorporation of the company, all sharehol de la societe la moitie au moins du montant des actions souscrites en ders shall pay up not less than one-third of their holdings in cash. numeraire. (3) Contributions in kind shall be fully and immediately paid up. (3) Les apports en nahire doivent etre intdgralement et inmiediate- They shall also appear on the assets side of the balance sheet of the ment liberes. 11s doivent en outre figurer k I’actif du bilan sous une ru- company under a separate heading. brique speciale. 14. Prospectuses, posters, circulars, notices, advertisements or any- Art. 14.- Les prospectus, affiches, circulaires, notices, annonces ou other documents whatsoever generally intended for third parties, as documents quelconques destinds apx tiers, ainsi que les polices emises well as policies issued, shall state the amount of the registered capital doivent indiquer le montant du capital social de la socidtd concemee. of the company concerned. Art. 15.- (1) En cas de perte de plus de deux tiers du capital so 15 (1) In the event of loss of more than two-thirds of the registered cial, le Conseil d’administration convoque I’Assemblee gendrale extra capit^, the Board of Directors shall convene an Extraordinary Ge ordinaire a I’effet soil de ddcider des mesures impdratives a prendre en neral Meeting for the purpose of either deciding on the imperative \Tje de la reconstitution du capital, soit de statuer sur la dissolution de measures to be taken for the reconstitution of capital or resolving to la societd. vrind up the company. (2) Dans tous les cas la ddcision prise par I’Assemblde gdndrale ex (2) Whatever the case, the supervisory authority shall be infonned traordinaire est portde a la connaissance del Autoritd deTutelle dans of the decision taken by the Extraordinary General Meeting within a un delai d’un mois pour approbation. period not exceeding one month, for his approval. (3) Si I’Assembiee generale extraordianirc nc s’est pas tenue dans | (3) In the event that the Extraordinary General Meeting did not s delais legaux, I’Autorite de Tutelie adresse une naise en demeure k take place within the legally prescribed period, the supervisory autho rity ^all send a formal no'ice to the company. Three months after societe. Trois mois apies cette mise en demeure. eUe pcut decider de suspension de la societe et.demander au tribunal competent de pro- the formal notice, the authority may decide to suspend the compa ny or ask the comptent court to order that the company be wound oncer sa dissolution. up. CHAPITRE 3 CHAPTER 111 Des soaetes d’assurances d forme munielle. Mutual insurance companies. Art. 16.— Les societes d’assurances ^ forme mutuelle sent celles 16. By mutual insurance company shall be understood a compa ji garantissent ^ leurs societaires, moyennantle versement dHine co- ny which, in return for the payment of a fixed or variable contri sation fixe ou variable,.le reglement integral de leurs engagements en bution, guarantees the full settlement of its members’ liabilities, in IS de realisation des risques dont elles ont ptis la charge. the event of a claim for which it has accepted responsibility. Art. 17. - Elies doivent avoir un fonds d’etablissement au moins 17. Mutual insurance companies shall have an initial capital not less than the amount provided for by decree. ;al au montant fixe par decret. 18. Mutual insurance companies shall mention the amount of their Art. 18.- Les SQcidtes d’assurances ^ forme mutuelle doivent faire initial capital in their articles of'association and in all documents in gurer dans les statuts et dans tous les documents destinds aux tiers le tended for third parties.Depending on the system of contribution ap lontant de leur fonds d’etablissement ainsi que, suivant le rdgime des plicable to the memben, they shall also mention either ((mutual insu otisations appliqud aux socidtaires, I’une des mentions «Soci6td d’as- rance company with fixed contributions* or ((mutual insurance com iranccs & forme mutuelle k cotisations fixes* ou «Socidt6 d’assuran- pany 'With variable contributions* printed in uniform letters. ;s k forme mutuelle i cotisations variables* imprimde en caracteres niformes. Art. 19.— Les socidt6s d’assurances ^ forme mutuelle peuvent se 19. Mutual insurance companies may be formed either by authen jrmer sort par acte authentique, soit par acte sous seingprivd fait en ticated deed or by simple contract, drawn up in two origin^s whate- ouble original quel oue soit le nombre des signataires de I’ar.fe rnnsn.. -ve*- 'tire- tutif. sous reserve des dispositions du Code de I’enregjstrement. provisions of the Registration Code. Art. 20.— Les projets de statuts doivent: 20. The draft articles of association shall: (1) Mentionner I’objet, la duree.la denomination dela socidte et la ■ - (1) State the purpose, duration and name of the company, stipuL irconscription territoriale de ses operations, determiner le mode et les ate the manner and general terms on which undertakings are entered onditions gendrajes suivant lesquelles sont contractes des engagements into between the company and its members, and specify the nature ntre les socidtds et les socidtaires, prdciser la nature des risques garan- of the various categories of risks covered directly or accepted for rein is directement.ou'acceptds en rdassurance. surance. (2) Fixer le nombre minimal des adherents qui ne peut etre infd- (2) Lay down the minimum 'number of members which may not be ieur & trois cents (300) et pour les socidtes d’assurances de dommages less than 300 (three hundred) and, for damage insurance companies, : montant minimal des valeurs assurees. the minimum amount of insured values. (3) Fixer le montant minimal des cotisations versdes par les adhd- (3) Lay down the minimum contribution paid by members in res ents au litre de la pdtiode annuelle et prdciser que ces cotisations doi- pect of the annual period and state that the contributions shall be ful tre inldgralement versdes prdalablement ^ la declaration prdvue i I’Ar- ly paid prior to the declaration provided for in Article 21 below. icle 21 ci-dessous. (4) Indiquer le mode de remuneration de la direction et.s’ily alieu, (4) Stipulate the method of remuneration of the management staff les adminlstrateurs. and where applicable, the directors. (5) 'Prdvoir la constitution d’un fonds d’dtablissement destinee i (5) Provide for the constitution of initial capital intended to meet aire face aux ddpenses ptevues dans le plan finaiicieret ^ garantir les the expenses set out in the financial plan and to cover the lialibilites mgagements de la socidtd et prdciser que le fonds d’etablissement de- of the (iompany and state that the initial capital shall be fully paid in 'ra dire inldgralement versd en especes, prdalablement k la declaration cash, prior to the declaration provided for in Article 21 below. rrdvue a I’Article 21 ci-dessous. (6) Prdvoir pour les soicdtds pratiquant les operations vie et capita ' (6) In the case of companies involved in life insurance and capital lisation, d’une part le versement de cotisations fixes, d’autre part, la accumulation transactions,-provide for the payment of fixed contri :onslitution d’une rdserve de garantie dont le montant doit etre au butions and the constitution of a guarantee reserve of an amount not aroins dgal a celui qui est fixd par la rdglementation en vigueur. less than that fixed by the regulations in force, on the other. (7) Fixer le monant maximal des frais de gestion. (7) Fix the maximum administrative expenses. (8) Prdvoir le mode de repartition des excddenls de recelles. (8) Lay down the method of distributing surplus receipts. (9) Determiner les conditions de modification et de rappel des co (9) Determine the conditiorrs u^der which contributions may be tisations pour les socidtds ayant etd constitudes sous forme de «Socie- amended and called in, in the case of companies formed as ((mutual td d’assurances a forme mutuelle a cotisations variables*. insurance companies with variable contributions ». (10) Stipulate that the company shall be incorporated only after (lO).Prevoir que la soclete n’est constituee qu’i partir de I'accepta- ■the acceptance referred to in Article 21(6) below. tion mentionnee a I’Article 21 alinea 6 ci-dessous. I Draft articles of association may provide for the constitution of an Les projets de statuts peuvent prevoir la constituion d’un foods so ! additional fund of the company intended to furnish the company with cial compl6mentair^destine a procurer a la soci^te les elements f°'- the components of solvency provided for by the appropriate regula vabilite prescrits par la .reglementation-, en la matiere. Les modalites tions. The terms and conditions of the constitution of this capital shall de constitution de ce foods sont determinees par d6cret. be determined by decree. Art. 21II ne peut etre stipule aucun avantage particulier aux pre 21: No special benefit may be stipulated for the founding members. miers sociitaires. The full text of the articles of association shall be appended to all Le texte entier des statuts doit etre reproduit sur tout document documents intended for the enrolment of members. destine k recevoir les adhesions. When the conditions provided for in Article 19 and 20'. shall have Lorsque les conditions prevues aux Articles 19 et 20 sont remplies, been fulfilled, the signatories of the initial deed or their attorneys shall les signataires de I’acte primitif ou leur fondds de pouvoirs ,le consta- make a declaration accordin^y before a notary. tent par une declaration devant notaire. To this declaration shall be appended : A cette declaration sont annexes; (1) La listc nominative diiment certifiee des adherents contenant (1) A duly certified list of members containing their names, ranks leun noms, prinoms, qualites et domiciles et, s’il y a lieu, la ^norm- and residences and, where applicable, the name and head office of the nation et le siege dd la societe, le montant des valeuts assurdes par company, the insured values and contribution per member; chacun d’eupc et le chiffre de leurs cotisations; (2) a duplicate of the company deed, where the deed is by simple (2) L’un des doubles de I’acte de societe s’O est sous seing piivd ou conUact or an authentic copy where it is drawn up by a noury and where it was authenticated before a notary other than .the one recei une expedition s’il est notarid et s’il a dte passd devant un notaire au tre que celui qui reqoit la ddclaration. ving the delcaration; (3) L’etat des cotisations versees par chaque adherent; (3) an account of each member’s contributions; (4) an account of the sums paid for the constitution of the initial (4) L’dtat des sommes versdes pour la constitution du fonds d’eta capital; blissement; ■ (5) An attestation from a notary certifying that the funds were^aid. (5) Un certificat du notaire constatant que les fonds ont dte versds prior to the declaration provided for in this Article. pidalablement a la ddclaration prdvue au prdsent article; (6) Le proces-vetbal de la premiere Assemblde conyoqude a la dUi- | (6) Minutes of the first meeting convened at the suit of the signato ries to the initial deed in order to verify the sincerity of the declaration gence des signataires de I’acte primitif k I’effet de vdrifier la smednte • mentioned above and to appoinl-members of the first Board of Direc- -ters-and-Attdkorst^he'-minutes-shall-4ndicate^-the acceptance. .oLthe— members of the Board of Directors and Auditors present at the Mee ting. CHAPTER IV CHAPITRE 4 Mutual insurance companies and their unions. Des societes mutuelles d'assurances et dehurs unions. 22. By mutual society in the sense of this Section shall be unders Art. 22.- Les socidtds mutuelles d’assurances vis^es au prdsent cha- tood an association which ; pitre sont des associations qui; (1) In return for the payment of a variable contribution, guarantees (1) Garantissent k leurs membres, moyennant le versement d’une the full settlement of iu members liabilities in the event of a claim for cotisahon variable, le rdglement intdgral de leurs engagements en cas which it has accepted responsibility. de rdalisation des risques dont elles ont piis la charge; (2) Is concerned with pven areas or occupation; (2) Ont un caractere rdgional ou professionnel; (3) Does not remunerate any intermediary with a view to obtaining (3) Ne rdmunerent aucun inteimddiaire en vue de I’acquisition des business; contrats; (4) Does not remunerate its directors; (4) N’attribuent aucune rdmundration i leurs gdrants ou atu..jiis- trateurs; (5) Divides its full surplus receipts among its members as provided (5) Rdpartissent intdgralement leurs exeddents de recettes entre les for in the articles of association. membres dans les conditions fixdes par les statu ts. Les societes mutuelles d’assutances ne peuvent pas accepter des ris Mutual insurance companies may not accept risks for reinsurance ques en reassurance, sauf autorisafion speciale de I’autorit^ de tu telle. except with the special authorization of the supervisory, authority. In Dans ce cas, le montant des cotisations acceptees eri reassurance doit that case, the amount of contributions accepted for reiitsurance shall etre limits au quart de leurs cotisations d’assuranee directe. he limited to a quarter of their direct insurance contributions. Art -3 - Les frais dc gestiort de societes ntutuelles ne peuvent ' 23. The administrative costs of mutual societies may include only comprendre que dcs depenses necessaires a leur fonctionnement et.le , expenses ncccssao’ for their operation and, where applicable,charges cas echeant, les charges du service et de I’amortissement des emprunts. ' relating to the amortization ofloans. Le total des depenses de fonctionnement nc peut depasser, par rap- ' Total administrative expenses may not exceed the following levels port aux cotisations normales, les pourcentages suivants: 1 in relation to normal contributions: (1) Vingt cinq pour cent (25%) pour un montant de cotisations (1) 25 % (twenty-five per cent) of contributions not exceeding inferieur ou egal ^ 25.000.000 de FCFA; 25,000,000 CFA francs. (2) Vingt pour cent (20%) sur la tranche de cotisations comprise (2) Twenty per cent of contributions falling between 25,000,000 ehtre.25.000.000 de CFA et 50.000.000 de FCFA. CFAF and 50,000,000 CFAF. (3) Quinze pour cent (13%) sur la tranche excedent 50.000.000 de (3) Fifteen percent of contributions exceeding 50,000,000 CFA F. FCFA. (3) The directors’ of mutual insurance companies may receive refunds Les gerants ou administrateurs ne peuvent recevoir que le rembour- in respect of their effective disbursements on behalf of the company sement sur justification des debours effectivement exposis par cux only on presentation of supporting documents. pour le compte de la society. (4) The employees, whatever their functions, may receive only a fi . Les employ'ds „quelles que soient leurs functions, ne peuvent etre remuner^s que par un traitement fixe et par des avantages accessoires xed remuneration and subsidiary benefits either as assistance to the said ayant le caractere, soit d’aide ou d’assistance ^ ces employes ou aux employees or to members of their families or as contribution to the membres de leurs families, soit de contribution ^ la constitution de building up of their retirernent pension. The said benefits shall not in pensions.de retraite en leur faveur. Ces avantages ne peuvent en aucun clude allowances proportional to the amount of contributions, the in cas consister en allocations proportionnelles au montant des cotisations, sured values or the company’s membership. ni au montant des valeurs assurdes, ni au norabre des adherents d.e la socidt6. de ces employes, ne peuvent'- representer plus de vingt pour cent more than twenty per cento! the total sums.allocated by the company (20%) du total des sommes affectees par la societe a de tels avantages to such benefits or more than twenty-five per cent of the remuneration ni plus de vingt-cinq pour cent (25%) du traitement de I’intdressd. of the person concerned. Art. 24.- (1) Les societds mutuelles d’assurances a caractere rdgio-' 24. (1) Regional mutual insurance companies shall confine their nal doivent limiter leurs souscriptions a la circonscription territoriale underwriting to the territorial area defined in the order granting appro fixee par Tarrete d’agrement. val. Such companies may only insure risks situated in the said area. Ces societes he peuvent assurer queles risques situes dans ladite cir conscription. (2) Les societes mutuelles d’assurances h caractere professionnel (2) Mutual insurance companies with given occupations shall admit regroupent les membres exerqant la meme professioA ou des profes as Inembers persons engaged in the same or allied occupations specified sions connexes, specifiees par les statuts. Elies n’assurent que des ris by the articles of association. They shall only insure risks relating to ques se rattachant a I’exercice de la profession ou des professions con engagement in the occupation or allied occupations concerned. nexes concemes. (3) Mutual insurance companies shall ensure that tlte mention ((Mu (3) Les societes mutuelles d’assurances doivent faire figurer dans tual insurance company with variable contributions* is printed in uni leurs statuts et tous autres documents destines aux tiers la mention form letters in their articles of association and in any other documents «Soci6td mutuelle d’assurances k cotisations variables*, impiimee en caracteres uniformes. intended for third parties. Art. 25.- Les societes mutuelles d’assurances ne peuvent pratiquer 25. Mutual insurance companies shall not carry out insurance tran des operations autres que celles prevues au paragraphe 3 de TAiticle sactions other than those provided for in Article 1 (3) of this Ordinance. ler de la presente ordonnance. Art. 26.— Les so(h£t6s mutuelles d’assurances ne peuvent 6tre vala- 26. (1) Mutual insurance companies shall not be validly formed with blement constituees que si eDes reunissent au moins cent cinquante fewer than one hundred and fifty members. ,(150) membres. (2) They shall constitute an initial capital whose minimum amount Elies sont tenues de constituer un fonds d’dtablissement dont le shall be fixed by decree. This capital shall be established by deducting montant minimum est fixd p4r decret. Ce fonds est alirnentd par des membership fees paid by members with a view to a final establishment prelevements au titre de droit d’adhdsion effectues par les adherents of the company. en yue de permettre la constitution definitive de la societd. (3) The sums representing the contribution of the mutual company Les sommes representant la contribution de la mutuelle h la cons to the establishment of the initial .capital of the unions provided for in titution du fonds d’etablissement des unions prevues a I’Article 27 ci- Article 27 below shall be drawn from the initial capital of the compa apres sont prelevees sur ce fonds. ny- 0FFIC3LAX GAZETTE OP THE REPUBLIC OP CAMEROON 3205 13 Si-pt. 39S5 Les soci^t^s mutuelles d’assurances peuvent, si leurs statuts les y |I (4) Mutual insurance companies may if their articles of association autorisent, emprunter pour constituer le fonds social complementaire Ij so authorize them, borrow in order to constitute the additional com -prevu ^ TArticle 20 de la prdsente ordonnance. pany capital provided for in Article 20 of this Ordinance. L’Assemblee gdnerale des soci^tds mutuelles d’assurances se com (5) The General Assembly of mutual insurance companies shall be pose de tous les membres i jour de leurs cotisations. Les statuts peu composed of all members who are up-to-date with their contributions. vent limiter le nombre des pouvoirs susceptibles d’etre confies a un The articles of association may limit the scope of powers likely to be meme m^dataire. entrusted to the same proxy. Les commissaires aux comptes font un rapport k I’AssemblSe g^nd- (6) Auditors shall submit a report to the General Assembly on the rale sur les ddpenses exposdes pour le compte de la socidtd par les admi- expenses incurred on behalf of the company by the directors and for nistrateurs et dont le remboursement a ete obtenu ou demandd par which they have obtained or requested reimbursment. eux. Art. 27.— n peut etre fotmd entre socidtds mutueUes d’assurances 27. (1) Unions may be established between mutual insurance com pratiquant les asurances de mdme nature, des unions ayant exclusive- panies practising insurance of the same nature, for the sole purpose of ment pour objet de rdassurer intdgralement les contrats souscrits par reinsuring the contracts entered into by mutual insurance companies ces mutuelles et de donner a celles - Elles sont assimildespour les risques qu’elles sont appeldes a cou- - They shall be assimilated, for risks they are supposed to cover, vrir aux socidtds a forme mutuelle en ce qui conseme le montant mini to mutual companies as concerns the minimum amount of the initial mal du fonds d’dtablissement qu’elles ont i constituer; capital which they have to constitute; — Articles of association of unions shall stipulate that; - Les statuts des unions doivent prdvoir que: fl) Les membres du Conseil d’administration des unions son! choisis (a) Union board members shall be chosen compulsoily from direc obligatoirement parmi les gerants ou administrateurs des socidtds qui tors of companies which are part thereof; —enfont-par4iet------(bj General Assemblies shall comprise all companies which are part b) Les Assembldes gdndrales sont composdes de toutes les socidtds' of the union and are each represented exclusively by one of its direc- faisant partie de Tunion, reprdsentdes chacune exclusivement par un' tors duly authorized; de ses gdrants ou administrateurs dument mandatd; . (c) The convening letter to the General Assembly shall be sent to c) La convocation a I’Assemblde gdnerale doit etr? faite par lettre recommandde adressde aux socidtds faisant partie de I’union 15 jourst*: the companies forming part of the union by registered mail at least 15 au moins avant la date fixde pour la reunion de I’Assemblde ; copie de• days before the date fixed for the assembly meeting. A copy of the said cette lettre de convocation doit etre adressde dans le mdme ddlai ki convening letter shall be addressed to the supervisory authority within I’autoritd de tutelle; the same time limit; d) Les questions communiqudes par trois socidtds au moins faisantt id) Matters submitted by at least three companies forming part of partie de I’union, 20 jours au plus tard avant la rdunion de I’Assem- the union, not later than twenty days before the meeting of the Gene blde gdndrale, doivent etre inscrites a I'ordre du jour; ral Assembly, shall be put on the agenda; e) L’ensemble des ddpenses de fonctionnement des unions et dess All operating expenses of unions and mutual companies which mutuelles faisant partie de ces unions ne peut pas ddpasser les pour-- are part of the said unions may not exceed the’ percentages provided centages prdvus a I’Article 23 precedent. for in Article 23 above. Art. 28.-.Est nulle et de nul effet, toute socidtd visee aux chapitres* 28. (1) Any company referred to in Chapters 3 and 4 of the present 3 et 4 du present Titre, qui a dte constituee en violation des .disposi'■ Part 2, which has been constituted in violation of the provisions of the tions de la prdsente ordonnance. present Ordinance, shall be null and void. Toulefois, les socidtaires ne pourront se prevaloir vis-a-vis des tiers■s (2) Provided that members may not oppose the nullity above defi des nuUitds ci-dessus prdvues. ned to third parties. Art. 29. - Lorsque la socidtd cst ainsi annulde, les fondateurs ayx- ).c- 29. (1) Where a company is declared null, the founders to whom the quels la nullitd est imputable et les administrateurs en function au mo- ■ ment ou elle a dtd encourue sont responsables solidairement envers les;s nullity is ascribable and the directors in office at the time the nullity .... :... . 4 .u U- JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA REPUBLIQUE L)U GAilEiiOUJN 3206 Si, pour couvrir la nuUitd, une Assemblee g6n6rale devait etre con- i (2) If a General Meeting is convened to cover the nullity, actions oquee, I’action en nuUile n’est plus recevable ^ partir de la date de for nullity shall no longer be admissible with effect from the date of onvocation reguliere de cette Assembl6e. the regular notice convening the meeting of the said Assembly. L’action en nullite de la societe ou des actes de deliberations, pos- (3) Actions for nullity of the company or of acts of deliberations firieure a sa constitution, est eteinte lorsque la cause de la nullite a taken after its constitution shall be extinguished when the cause of ;ess6 d’exister avant I’inlroduction de la demande ou en tout cas du the nullity ceases to exist before the actions are instituted or in any our ou le tribunal statue sur le fond en premiere instance. Nonobstant case on the day when the court of first instance rules on the merits of a rdgularisation , les frais des actions en nullitd intentdes antdrieure- the case. Nothwithstanding the regularization, the costs of actions for nent sont a la charge des ddfendeurs. nullity suits filed previously shall be borne by the defendants. Le tribunal saisi dhine action en nullite peut, meme d’office, fixer (4) The court before which an action for nullity is brought may on in deiai pour couvrir les nullites. its own decision, fix a period of time within which the nuUity is to be covered; L’action en responsablilite, pout les faits ayant entraihe la nullite. (5) Actions for liability fqr acts having caused the nullity shall also est egalemeht inecevable lorsque la cause de la nullite a cessd d’exister, be inadmissible where the cause of the nullity ceases to exist, either soit avant I’introduction de la demande, sort au jour oil le tribunal sta before the action is filed, or on the day the court of first instance rules tue sur le fond en premiere instance, soit dans un deiai impart! pour on the merits fo the case, or within the period of time allowed to co couvrir la nullite et, en outre, si trois armees se sont ecouiees depuis le ver the nullity. They shall further be inadmissible where three years jour ou la nullite etait encourue. have elapsed since the nullity was ihcurred. Les actions en nullite ci-dessus visees sont prescrites apres cinq ans. (6) Actions for nullity referred to above shall be barred by statute after five years. Art. 30.— A partir du jour oil Tagrementprevu h 1’Article 31 ci-des- 30.(1) As from the day the approval provided for in Article 31 be sous a ete notifie k une societe regie par les chapitres 3 et 4 du present low is riotified to a company governed by Chapters 3 and 4 of the pre Litre, Taction en nullite ne peut plus etre intentee par Tautorite de tu- sent Part 2, actions for nullity shall no longer be instituted by the w- telle.' I pervisory authority. ^ Celle-ci est ndanmoins admise & susprendre Tagrement jusqu’& ce (2) The said :supervisory authority; shall, however, be allowed to que la nullite soit couverte. suspend the approval until the nullity is covered. PART III » TITRE III State approval. 1 Agrement deVetat. Section 1. Section 1 • Approval of insurance companies. I De Vagrement des societes d’assurances. 31. (1) Insurance companies governed by the present Ordinance Art. 31.- Les societes d’assurances reges par la presente ordon- shall obtain approval from the supervisory authority before commen nance doivent, avant de commencer leurs operations, obtenir Tagrd- cing business in compliance with the conditions fixed by order. ment de Tautorit6 de tutelle dans les conditions fixdespar arretd. (2) They may only carry out transactions for which they are ap Elies ne peuvent pratiquer que les operations d’assurances pour les- proved. quelles elles out etd agredes. (3) They may present the said transactions directly or through the EUes peuvent presenter directement lesdites operations ou par Tin- intermediary of persons authorized to do so. lermediaire des personnes habilitees. 32. Approval shall be granted at the request of the undertaking to Art. 32.- L’agrement est accordd sur demande de Tentreprise, pour cover one or more of the following categories and sub-categories of in les operations d’une ou plusieurs branches ou sous-branches d’assuran surance : ces enumerdes ci-apres: 1. Life: 1. Vie: Toute operation comportant des engagements dont Texecu- Any transaction involving commitments whose fulfilment depends on the’lifespan of a person. tion ddpend de la duree de la vie humaine. '2. Marriage: 2. Nuptialite: Toute operation ayant pour objet le versement d’un Any transaction involving the payment of an amount of money m capital en cas de mariage ou de naissance d’enfant. the event of marriage or birth of a child. 3. Capital accumulation: 3. Capitalisation: Toute opdration d’appel k Tepargne en vue de la Any transaction requiring savings so as to accumulate capital and capitalisation et comportant, en echange de versements uniques ou involving specific commitments in return for payment which may be a periodiques, directs ou indirects des engagements determines. lump sum or periodic, direct or indirect. 4. Acquisition dlmmeubles: Toute operation ayant pour objet, 4. Acquisition of property: Tacquisition d’immeubles au rhoyen de la constitution de rentes via- Any transaction to acquire property through life annuities. geres. ir. S»-I)t- HKr. OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE REPUBLIC OP CAMEROON 3207 5. Epargne: Toute operation d’appel li I’epargne dansle but de i^u- j 5. ^vings: nir des sommes veisee; par les adherents, soit er? vue de les affecter a Any transaction involving sa\ings intended to collect sums paid by des comptes de depot portant interet, soit en vue de la capitalisation members with a view to either placing them in deposit account at inte en commun avec participation aux bdnefices d’autres socidtds gdr^es rest of for joint capital accumulation with other compani.es managed ou administrdes directement ou indirectement. or administered directly or indirectly on a profit-sharing basis. 6. Oc'dj?; Toute operation sur; 6. Credit;. Any transaction dealing with : a) Insolvabiliti g^ndrale; fll general insolvency; b) Cii dit S Texportation; b) expoh credit; c) Vente i tempdrament; c) hire-purchase; d) Credit hypothdcaire; d) loan on mortgage; e) Credit agricole. e) agricultural credit. 7. Operations d'assurance automobile. 1. Motor insurance ■ 8. Operations d’assurance aviation. 8. Aviation insurance. 9. Opdrations contre accidents: 9. Accident insurance: a) Prestations forfaitaires; a) fixed benefits; b) Prest^tions indemnitaires; b) compensation; c) Combinaisons;’ c) schemes; d) Personnes transportdes. d) passengers; 10. — Operations d 'assurance maladie: ,10. Health insurance: a) Prestations forfaitaires; a) fixed benefits; b) Prestations indemnitaires; b/compensations; c) Combinaisons. c) schemes. 11. Fire, explosions and natural disaster insurance. 11. Operations d'assurance contre I'incendie, les explosions et les dlements natureJs. ■ 12. Operations d'assurances contre les risques de responsabilite civi 12. Public liabilities insurance other than the insurance referred to le autres qu 'aux branches 7,8 et 11. in sub-paragraphs 7, 8 and 11 of the drticle. 13. Operations d 'assurance contre les risques de mortalite du betail. 12. Livestock insurance. • ‘i'd. Operations d'assurance contre levol. lA.Burglary insurance. 15. Operations d 'assurance maritime etde transport. ■ 15. Marine and transport insurance. 16. Operations d 'assurance caution. 16. Security insurance. 17. Penes .pecuniairest diverses: 17. Various money losses: a) Risques d’emploi; a) employcment risk; b) Insuffisance de recettes g^nerales; b.1 inadequate overall revenue; c) Mauvais temps; c) bad weather; dj Pertes de benefices; ■rfl loss of profits; e) Persistance de frais generaux; e) continued overhead costs; f) Ddpenses coramerciales imprdvues; fl unforseen business expenditure; g) Perte de loyers ou de revenus; gl loss of rents or income; 0 Pertes commerciales indirectes autres que celles mentionndes hj indirect business losses other than those previously mentioned; precdderrunent; j) non-business money losses; /) Pertes pecuniaires non commerciales; k) other money losses. k) Autres pertes pecuniaires. 18. Op^rkions d’assurances contre tous les risques non compris 18. Insurance against all other risks not included in those mentio dans ceux mentionnes ci-dessus, ces operations devant etre explicite- ned above; the type of insurance should be specified in the application ‘ment designees dans ia demande d’agrement. for approval; 19. Reinsurance • 19. Reassurance: Toute operation d'acceptation en reassurance Any transaction involving acceptance of reinsurance offered by pratiquee par ces entreprises dont I’activite s’etend b d’autres branches. companies which offer other thypes of insurance policies. Sous reserve de la re^ementation relative aux accidents de travail et maladies professionnelles, Tagrement peut egalement etre demande Subject to the regulations governing industrial accidents and occu en ce qui conceme ces risques, uniquement pour la garantie despres- pational diseases, approval may also be requested for these risks, in so ].') si'iit, I!)S5 8 JOUENAL OPFICIEL DE EA EEPUBLIQUE DU CAMEEOUN ’autorite de tutelle peut, si elie le juge ndcessaire, exclure certaines The supervisory authority may, if he deems it necessary, exclude ations comprises dans une branche pour laquelleirag'idment est certain transactions from a category for which approval is requested or aidd ou subordonner I’octroi d’agidment aux conditions fixdes au grant approval only under the conditions laid down in Article 63 (2) graphe (2) de rArticle 63 de la prdsente ordonnance. of this Ordinance. It. 33.— (1) Les socidtds d’assurances ne peuevent avoir d’autre 33. (1) Insurance companies may not caijy out any other business t que celui de pratiquer les operations dnumdrdes i I’Article 32 de other than the transactions listed in Article,32 of this ordinance. dsente ordonnance. (2) However, they may conclude insurance contracts on behalf of 2) Elies peuvent toutefois faire souscrire des contrats d’assurances other companies with which they have entered into agreements for this r le compte d’autres societes aves lesquelles elles ont conclu un ac- purpose. The agreements by wWch they undertake to furnish such as i k cet effet. L’accord par lequel elles s’engagent i prfiter leur con- sistance shall require the approval of the supervisory authority before re ^ cette fin doit dtre, prealablement ^ son entrde en vigiieur, ap- ivd par I’autorite de tutelle.. taking effect. I) Les scicidtfs qui pratiquent Tune des branches d’opdrations vi- (3) Companies which carry out any of the transactions referred to aux paragraphes 1, 2, 3, 5 et 6 de I’Article 32 ci-dessus doivent, in sub-paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of Article 32 above shall institute • chacune de ces operations, etablir une gestion spdciale et tenir special management systems and keep separate accounts for each tran comptabilitd distincte. saction. 34. All companies carrying out the transactions refened to in irt. 34.- n est interdit & toute soci6t6 pratiquant les opdrations vi- Article 32 (3) above shall be prohibited from stipulating that a contract au paragraphe 3 de I’Article 32 ci-dessus de stipuler ou de realiser is to be performed by the drawingoflots,fromsoexecutingacontract, icution de contrats ou I’attribution de bdnefices par voie de tira- and from so allocating profits. u sort. 35. Approval shall.b.e granted_by_C£dej..Q and published in the Official Gazette. It shall specify the categories and lid au Journal officiel. D specifie les branches et les sous-branches sub-categories of transactions for which the insurance undertaking is idrations d’assurances pour lesquelles I’entreprises est agrdee. approved. 36.— (1) Sauf derogation accordee par I’autoritd de tutelle, il 36. (1) Except where otherwise authorized by the supervisory au interdit aux pereonnes physiques et morales assujetties aux disposi- thority natural persons and corporate bodies subject to the provisions is de la prdsente ordonnance de placer aupres d’un organisme non of this Ordinance shall be prohibited from insurance all or part of a risk id au Cameroun, tout ou partie d’un risque situd ou immatriculd au situated or registered in Cameroon with a body which is not approved in Cameroon. neroun. [2) Toute operation de rd^urance portant sur une cession ou rd- (2) All reinsurance transactions involving the transfer or retroces cession supdrieure i 50 % d’un risque a I’dtranger est soumise a sion of more than 50 % of a risk abroad shall be subject to the prior approval, of the supervisory authority, provided the transferor gives- torisation prdalable de Tautorite de tutelle, sous rdse^e que la cd- ite justifie avoir dpuise la capacitd de retention des organismes proof that it has exhausted the capacity to contract of bodies appro ids au Cameroun. ved in Cameroon. ' (3) Tout traite de reassurance avec une socidtd etrangere ne peut (3) All reinsurance agreements with foreign companies shall not in -ter sur une cession supdrieure a 50 %. volve the transfer of more than 50 % of the premium. Art. 37.-0) L’agrement devient caduc, si I’entreprise qui I’a obtenu 37. (1) The approval shall become null and void if the undertaking pas commence & pratiquer dans le ddlai d’un an pour compter de which obtained it fails to start business within one year, following the late de publication au Journal officiel de I’arretd d’agrdment, sauf si publication of the approval order in the Official Gazette unless it gives ! justifie aupres de I’autoritd de tutelle que pendant ce temps, elle proof to the supervisory authority that during that time it was carrying lisait au Cameroun des investissements indispensables au demarrage out investments in Cameroon required to start its business. However, son activity. Toutefois, les modalites de financement de ces inves- the conditions for financing these investments shall be in compliance iements doivent respecter les ilormes de constitution des fonds pro- with the norms for constituting the company’s funds as stipulated in :s exigees par les Articles 3 (2), 8,13,17 et 26 (2) de la prdsente or- Articles 3 (2), 8,13,17 and 26 (2) of this Ordinance. nnance.' (2) The approval shall also become null and void in the event of (2) L’agrement devient dgalement caduc en cas de transfert d’une ;idte k une autre du portefeuille de contrats relatifs ^ toute I’acti- transfer of a company’s portfolio relating to its entire business to ano ther company. (3) Si le transfert est partiel, la caducite ne portera que sur les bran- (3) Where the transfer is partial the approval shall become null and re ou les sous-branches concemees. void only as regards the categories and sub-categories conperned. (4) If during the first financial year of its business a company fails (4) Si pendant le premier exercice de ses activitds, une socidtd n’a to write premiums in one or more categories or sub-categories of tran IS 6mis de primes dans une ou plusieure branches ou sous-branches sactions for which approval has been granted,it may resume operations opdrations pout lesquelles Tagidment lui a dtd accordd, elle ne peut only with the authorization of the supervisory authority. prendre ces opdrations qu’avec I’autorisation de I’autoriti de tuteDe. in scjit. r.isn OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE EEPUBLIC OF OAMEBOON 3209 CHAPTER H CHAPITRE 2 i j Des intermediaires d 'assurances. Insurance agents. Art. 38.- Les intermediairns d’assurances regis par la presente or- 38. Insurance agents governed by this Ordinance shall, prior to star donnance doivent, avant decommencerleursactivites.etrehabUitdspar ting their activities, be empowered by the supervisory authority to of I’autoritd de tutelle & presenter au public les operations d’assurances. fer insurance transactions to the public. Art. 39.— Sont considerds comme intermediaires d’assurances: 39. The following shall be considered insurance agents : (1) Les personnes physiques titulaires d\in mandat d’agent gendral, (1) Natural penons duly appointed general agents by an approval deiivre par une entreprise d’assurances agrdee; insurance undertaking. (2) Les persormes physiques et les socidtes immatriculdes au Rdgis- (2) natural persons and companies entered in the Trade Register as tre de commerce pour le courtage d’assurance et, en ce qui conceme insurance brokers and, as concerns the companies, partners or third ces societdj, les associds ou tiers qui ont obtenu lespouvoirs de les gd- parties which have been empowered to manage or administer them. rer ou de les administrer; (3) Les personnes physiques ou morales mandatdes k cet effet soil (3) natural persons or corporate bodies so appointed either by an par une socidte agrede, soit par une persormes dgalement agrdde, visdes approved company or persons refened to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above. aux alindas 1 et 2 ci-dessus; (4) Les salarids commis par une entreprise d’assurances ou tine (4) wage-earners appointed by an insurance company or a person persbime visde aux alindas 1 et 2 ci-dessus. referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above. Art. 40.— L’agent gdndral d’assurances ne peut commencer ^ opd- 40. A general insurance agent may start business only after his ap rer qu’apres visa de son traitd de nomination par I’autoritd de tutelle. pointment has been endorsed by the supervisory authority. Art. 41.— Tout courtier d’assurances doit, pour exercer ses' activitds 41. Every insurance broker shall, before engaging in his activities obtenir I’agrdment de I’autoritd de tutelle accordd par arretd. be granted approval by order of the supervisory authority. Art. 42.— Les personnes physiques ou morales mandatdes par une 42. Natural persons or corporate bodies appointed by a company socidtd ou toute autre personne agiede, ne peuvent exercer I’activitd or any other approved person may act as insurance agent only after d’intermddiaire d’assurances qu’apres I’obtention d’une carte profes-. obtaining a professional card issued by the mandator and endorsed by sioruielle ddlivrde par le manaant et visde par I’autoritd de tutelle. the supervisory authority. Art. 43.— Le salaiid. commis par une entreprise d’assurances ou 'par 43. A wage-earner employed by an insurance undertaking or one of I’une des personnes mentionndes aux Articles 40 et 41 ci-dessus. doit the persons mentioned in Articles 40 and 41 above shall obtain a pro obtenir une carte professionnelle de prospecteur, visde par I’autoritd fessional card as a canvasser which shall be endorsed by the superviso de tutelle. ry authority. ' Art. 44.— Les conditions decompdtence professionnelle et d’hono- 44. The conditions of professional competence and integrity requi rabilite exigdes des intermddiaires d’assurances ainsi que les autres red of insurance agents and other conditions for practising their profes modalitds de I’exercie de leur profession sont fixdes par arrdtd de I’au- sion shall be laid down by order of the supemsory authority. toritd de tutelle. CHAPTER III CHAPITRE 3 ' Managers. Des dirigeants. Art. 45.— (1) Les personnes physiques chargdes de la direction 45. (1) Natural persons responsible for managing an insurance com d’une socidtd d’assurances doivent prdiablement a leur entrde en pany shall, prior to their assumption of duty, be approved by order of fonction, obtenir Taerdment du ministre chargd des assurances accor the Minister in charge of insurance. dd par arretd. (2) Elies doivent etre de nationalitd camerounaise et rdsider au Ca- (2) They shall be of Cameroonian nationality and reside in Came meroun. roonian. (3) Leur demande d’agrement doit etre accompagnde de toutesles (3) Their applications for approval shall be accompanied by all do pieces justifiant qu’elles possedent l’honorabilitd,la formation et I’ex- cuments showing that they are of honourable character and have the pdrience addquates i leurs fonctions. appropriate training and experience. (4) Le ministre chargd des assurances peut utiliser lous les moyens (4) The Minister in charge of insurance may make all investigations d’investigation susceptibles d’dclairer sa ddcision. needed to enable him take a decision. (5) Par ddrogation'aux dispositions du paragraphe (2) ci-dessus: (5) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 above : - Les socidtes existant a la date de promulgation de la prdsenfe or- donnance, peuvent etre dirigdes par des non-camcrounais agrdds pour - companies already operating on the date of issue of this Ordinal .e une periode de deux ans a la condition expresse que les intdressds rdsi- may be managed by non-Cameroonians approved for two years on the dent au Cameroun. Cet agrdment ne peut etre eventuellement renou- proviso that the said persons reside in Cameroon. Such approval may veld qu’une fois. only be renewed once if need be. OOUENAX OmOIEL DE LA’ EEPUBLIQUE DU OAMEROUN 15 Sept. l!)S."i 3210 — Les socidUs agiiees posterieurement li la promulgation de laprd- — companies approved after the promulgation of this ordinance sente oidonnance, poutront etre dirigees par des non Art. 46.- (1) H est interdit aux administrateurs et directeurs des 46. (1) Administrators and managers of insurance companies shall soci6tes d’assurances de prendre ou de conseiver un intSret direct ou not t^e or have a direct or indirect interest in an undertaking, con indirect dans une entreprise, un marchf, un traitd ou une opdration tract, agreement or business or financial transaction made with the commerciale ou financiere faite avec la society ou pour son compte company or on its behalf, unless they are duly authorized by the Ge & moins qu’ils n’y soient autoiisds par I’AssembMe gdndrale. neral Assembly. (2) Un compte rendu est, chaque ann^e, pidsentd i TAssemblee (2) A report shall each year be submitted to the General'Assembly. .g6ndrale sur I’execution des marches, entrepiises, traites, opdrations Such a report shall concern the execution of contracts, commitments, commerciales ou flnancieres par elle autoris6s aux termes du pid^- agreements, and business or financial transactions authorized by the 4ent paragraphe. Assemblyin accordance with the previous paragraph. (3) Ce compte rendu doit faire I’objet d*un rapport des commissai- (3) Auditor shall submit a.report on the said report. res aux comptes. I. • Art. 47.- (1) Ne peuvent & un titre quelconque fonder, administrer, 47. (1) The following sh^ not, in whatever capacity, found, admi diriger, gerer ou liquider les entreprises d’assurances et de reassurance nister run,'manage or liquidate insurance or reinsurance undertakings du exercer la profession d’inteimediaire d'assurances et de reassuran or practise the profession of insurance and reinsurance agent: ce ; — Les personnes ayant fait I’objet de condemnation pour crime de — persons, who have been convicted for ordinary law crimes, theft, -droit-comiiitm, pom vul,"pouT-abus-de Luiifiaiice; poui escroquerier breach of confidence,-fTaud7-deduetion3 by baliffsi-ex-ty-sieft-df-firnds— pour soustraction commise par depositaire public, pour extorsion de or securities, issuing of cheque without cover, misappropriation of State fonds ou valeurs, pour emission de cheque sans provisions, pourattein- funds and receiving and concealing of goods obtained by committing te au credit de I’Etat, pour receuil d’objets obtenus i I’aide de ces these offences; infractions; — les personnes ayant fait I’objet de condamnation pour tentative — persons who have been convicted for attempting to commit the ou compUcite des infractions ci-dessus; above offences or being accomplices thereto; - les faillis non rehabilites; — undischarged bankrupt persons. (2) Les memes interdictions peuvent etre egalement prononcees i (2) The same prohibitions may also be taken against : rencontre : ■ — De toute peisonne condamnee pour infraction k la legislation ou — any person convicted for contravening insurance law and regula & la reglementation des assurances; tions; — Des administrateurs, geraiits ou directeurs d’organismes d’assu — administrators, inanagers and directors of insurance undertakings rances dissous i la suite du retrait d’agiement. dissolved foDowing withdrawal of approval. PART IV TITRE IV Regulatory commitments of insurance companies. • Des engagements reglementaires des soditis d ’assurances. ■ 48. Insurance companies shall be bound, according to the types of Art. 48.- Les societds d’assurances doivent obligatoirement consti- transactions they carry out to provide the following technical provi tuer, selon les operations qu’elleseffectuent, les provisions techniques sions. suivantes: A. - For life insurance, birth and marriage insurance and capital A.- Pour les operations d’assurances-vie, d’assurances natality, ' nuptialite et de capitalisation: accumulation transactions : 1. Provisions mathematiques: difference entre les valeurs actuelles 1. Actuarial provisions : the difference'between the cunent values des engagements respectivement pris paries assureurs et par les assures; of commitments made by insurers and policy holders respecti vely- 2. Reserve de capitalisation : reserve destinee h parer h la deprecia 2. Capital accumulation reserve : reserve intended to provide against tion des valeurs comprises dans I’actif de la societe et k la diminution the depreciation of securities included in the assets of the com . deleur revenu; pany. and for loss of revenue therefrom. s. V. 3. Provisions pour benefices non distribues annuellement aux assu 3. Provision for profits not distributed annually to policy-holders : res: 'montant des comptes individuels de participation aux benefices sum total of the individual profit-sharing accounts arc not paya- ouverts au nom des assures, loreque ces benefices ne sont pas payables -blc immediately following the close of the year during which immediatement apres la cloture de I’exercice qui les a produits. they occurred. OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON 3211 B. — Pour lesaiitres branches d'operations: h. For other types of transactions : 1 Provisions pour risquesencours;provisions destinees 4 couvrirles | 1. Provision for unexpired risks : provision intended to cover risks risques et les frais gdneraux y afT^rents, pour cliacun des contrats a ! and overheads related thereto for each of the premium paid con- prime payable d’avance a la periode comprise entre la date de I’inven- | tracts, in respect of the period between the due date of the next taire et la prochaine echeance de prime, ou a ddfaut le terme fixe par | premium, or failing this, the date at which the contract matures, contrat; 2. Provisions pour sinistres k payer; valeur estimable des d6penses 2. Provision for outstanding claims: estimated value of expenditure pour sinistres non regies et niontant des ddpenses pour sinistres cons- for outstanding claims- and the amount of expenditure for claims titutifs des rentes non encore mises & la charge de la soci^te; resulting in annuities for which the company is not yet liable. 3. Provisions math^matiques des rentes ; valeur des engagements de 3. faj Actuarial provision for annuities : value of the company’s la soci6te en ce qui conceme les rentes mises a sa charge. commitments in respect of annuities for which it is liable. Pour toutes autres branches d’operations d’assurances,l’autoritd de fbj For all other types of insurance transactions the supervisory au tutelle peutj outre celles pr^vues ci-dessus, prescrire par anete public thority may prescribe, by order published in the Official Gazet au Journal officiel, la constitution des provisions techniques ndeessai- te, their technical provisions necessary for the complete settle res au reglement integral des engagements pris envers les assures et be- ment of commitments towards the insured and the beneficiaries neficiaires de contrats. of policies, in addition to the provisions mentioned above. Les provisions technqiues vis^es par les paragraphes precedents sont M The technical provisions refened to in the preceding paragraphs calcuHes sans deduction des reassurances cedees, dans les conditions shall be calculated without deduction of ceded reinsurance un fixees par arrete de-Pautorite de tutelle. der conditions laid down by order of the supervisory authority. Les dotations reglementaires aux provisions techniques sont pour fdj The statutory amounts assigned to the technical provisions in chacun des exercices comptables, imputees au titre des charges de respect of each year of account shall be considered as charges I’exercice et ne donnent lieu ^ aucun pieievement fiscal. for that year and shall not be subject to any tax deductions. Art. 49.- Outre les provisions techniques et mathematiques pre- 49. (1) Irrespective of the date of Aeir transaction, insurance com vues ii Particle precedent, les societes d’assurances sont tenues, quelle panies shall enter the following as liabilities on their balance sheets, in que soit la date des operations qu’elles effectuent, d’inscrire au passif addition to the technical and actuarial prowsions provided for,in the de leur bilan: preceding article : 1. Les postes corregjondants aux creances ptivil6giees autres que faj Items corresponding to the preferential debts, other that the les provisions techniques et mathematiques; technical and actuarial provisions; 2. Les depots de garantie des-agents, des assures et dbs tiers, s’il y a fbj Security deposits, policy holders and third parties where ap lieu; . plicable; Line provision pour amortissCTient'des emprunts. /cj Provision for amortizatToiTofToanr II est porte chaque annee, au compte des frais de gestion, une som- (2) Each year, a fixed sum earmarked for the payment of interest me constante destinee au paiement des interets et au remboursement and loan reimbursements or for the formation of the provision refer des emprunts ou a la constitution de la provision yis6e au 3e alinea du red to in paragraph (c) of this article shall be entered as management present article. expenses. Art. 50.- (I) Les societes d’assurances doivent i toute epoque, 50. (1) Insurance companies shall at all times be able to enter the etre en mesure d’inscrire au passif et de presenter a Pactif du bilan dans technical provisions and other commitments referred to in'Articles 48' ies conditions specifiees par decret, les provisions techniques et les au and 49 above, in their balance sheets, as liabilities and represen't them tres engagements vises aux Articles 48 et 49 ci-dessus. as assets, under conditions laid down by decree. (2) Les elements d’actif affectes a la representation des provisions (2) Assets assigned to the technical provisions shall be liquid assets, techniques doivent etre des liquidites, des exigibilites, des creances et claims due, debts and investments in movable and real property which des placements mobiliers ou immobOiets presentant des garanties et shall be sufficiently secure, liquid and diverse for the insurance com remplissant des conditions de disponibilite et de diversite suffisantes pany to be in a position to meet its commitments at all times. pour que la soci^ti d’assurances soit S tout moment en situation de satisfaire a ses engagements. (3) En outre, les societes pratiquant les branches d’operations vi- (3) Furthermore, companies carrying out the transactions referred sees aux paragraphes 1, 2, 3 et 4 de PArticle 32 ci-dessus et tenues de to in Article 32 (1),(2), (3) and (4) above which are obliged to set up constituer des provisions mathematiques, doivent maintenir le revenu actuarial provisions shall maintain the net income from the investments net des placements affectes a ces provisions mathematiques a un mon- assigned to the said actuarial provisions at an amount not less than the tanf au moins egal a celui des interets dont sont credites lesdites provi arfiount of interest credited to these provisions. sions mathematiques. I ;»>.! (4) La nature el les modes d'evaluation des placements et autres 6- (4) The nature and method of evaluating the investments and other lemeiits d’actif satisfaisant aux imperatifs techniques et financiers di assets which fulfil the technical and financial requirements defined finis aux paragraphed precedents et admis en representation des provi in the preceding paragraphs and are accepted for the formation of the sions techniques sont diteimines par dicret. technical provisions shall be defined by decree. Art. 51Le passif vise aux alinias 1 et 3 de I’Article 49 de la pri- 51. The liabilities referred to in Article 49 (l) and (3) of this Ordi sente ordonnance est represente ^ I’actif dans les mimes conditions nance shall be entered as assets in the same manner as the technical que les provisions techniques correspondent aux opirations autres que provisibns corresponding to transactions for which special management celles ne faisant pas I’objet d*une gestion spiciale, ou a difaut, des es- is required, or failing that, in the same manner as cash in hand or in peces en caisse ou en banque. banks. Art. 52.— Les fonds restant disponibleslorsqu’il a iti satisfait aux 52. (1) When the provisions concerning the formation of the liabili dispositions concernant la repiisentation du passif visi aux Articles 49 ties referred to in Articles 49 to 51 above have been complied with, 4 51 ci-dessus, demeurent 4 la libre disposition de la sociiti d’assuran- remaining funds shall be entirely at the disposal of the insurance com ces. Ils peuvenf etre utilisis ou placis conformiment aux statute de la pany. They may be employed or invested in accordance with the me sociiti et aux ri^es de droit commun. morandum and articles of association of the company and with the ru les of ordinary law. Art. 53.- (1) Les actifs mobiliets des sociitis d’assurahces affectis 53. (1) The policyholders and beneficairies of contracts shall have 4 la reprisentation des provisions techniques sont grivis d’un privilege preferential ri^ts on the movable assets ofinsurance concerns assigned special en faveur des assuris et binificiaires de contrats. Ce privilige to the technical provisions. This ri^t shall immediately rank after the prendra rang immidiatement apres les privileges giniraux privus par general previleges provided by the civil code. le Code Civil. (2) Les immeubles des sociitis d’assurances affectis 4 la reprisen (2) Buildings belonging to the insurance companies which are assi tation des provisions techniques sont grivis d*une hypotheque ligale gned to the technical provisions shall be secured by a legal mortgage inscrite 4 la requite de I’autoriti de tutelle au profit de la communau- registered at the request of the supervisory authority in favour of po ti des assuris, sousciipteuis et binificiaires de contrats d’assurances. licyholders, and i subscribers or beneficiaries of contracts. ------Art.-54,—Les-sociites-soumises-aux-dispositions-deiapriseiiltf oi=~ donnance sont tenues, en ce qui conceme exclusivement les provisions be bound, exclusively as concerns the technical provisions and other techniques et autres engagements riglementis de se conformer 4 la ri- regulatory commitments to comply with the special rules and regula glementation spiciale en la matiere lors de I’etablissement de leur bi- tions applicable thereto on drawing up their balance sheets. For the Ian. Pour I’ivaluation de tous autres postes du bilan, ces sociitis de evaluation of the other items on the balance sheet such companies shall meurent soumises aux regies de droit commun. remain subject to the rules of ordinary law. HIRE V PART V Intervention de I’Etat. State intervention. CHAPITRE PRE.M1ER CHAPTER I Du contrdle. Control. Art. 55. — Le contrdle de I’Etat sur les organismes d’assurances 55. (1) State control of insurance concerns shall be exercised in the s exerce dans I’interet des assuris, souscripteurs et binificiaires de con- ■ interest of policyholders, subscribers and beneficiaries of contracts. trats. 11 porte sur I’ensemble de I’activiti desdits organismes notamment (2) It shall concern all the activities of such undertakings, in parti I’application de la riglementation 41’industrie de I’assurance.l’emploi cular, the application of the rules and regulations in insurance compa des fonds collectis, le reglement Jes sinistres et le placement des provi nies, the use of funds collected,compensation for accidents and the in sions tenchiques et mathimatiques. vestment of technical and actuarial provisions. Art. 56.— Sont soumis au contrdle de I’Etat:, 56. The following shall be subject to state control. I. Les sociitis et intermidiaires visies aux articles 1 et 2 de la pri- (1) The companies and intermediaries referred to in Articles 1 and sente ordonnance; 2 of this Ordinance. 2. Les organismes visis Particle 3 paragraphe (4) de la prisente or- (2) The concerns referred to in Article 3 (4) of the Ordinance. doimance; • ( 3. Les groupements professionnels ipstituis entre entreprises d’as (3) Professional associations set up among insurance companies. surances. ^ Art. 57.- (1) Le contrdle de I’Etat sur les organismes et opirations 57. (1) Slate control of insurance concerns and transactions shall d’assurances s’effectue sous I’autoriti du ministre-chargi des assuran be exercised under the authority of the Minister in charge of insurance ces par Pentremise des contrdleurs des assurances ou de toute autre thorugh insurance controllers or any other duly appointed person. personne dOment disignie. (2) Un dictel ditennine les modalitis d’application du prisent ar (■2) A decree shall lay down the conditions of application of this Ar ticle. ticle. 58. (1) Insurance concerns operating in the Republic of Cameroon • Art. 58.- (1) Les oiganistnes d’assurances operant en Rdpublique i shall be bound to send to the Supersnsory Authority, in the manner du Cameroun sont tenus de transmettre a I’autoritd de tutelle , dans and on the dates fixed by it, all documents as may facilitate the chec les formes ct aux (2) Les documents destinis i 6tre distribuis au public ou pubbis (2) Documents intended fqr distribution to the public or those pu doivent toujours porter k la s-aite de la raison sociale la rnertbon ci- blished must beat the following, after the company name. apres: « Entreprise privie rigie par Tordonnance n 85-03 du 31 aout ((Private company governed by Ordinance No. 85-3 of 31 August 1985». 1985*. (31 ns ne doivent contenir aucune allusion au controle de 1 Etat, ni (3) They must ndt bear any reference to state control nor any sta une assertion susceptible d’induire en erreur sur la viritable nature de tement as may misrepresent the teal nature of the company or the ac I’entreprise ou I’importance rielle de ses engagements. tual amount of its commitments. CHAPTER II CHAPITRE 2 Professional secrecy. Du secret professionnel. 60. (1) Any administrator or any person who, in whatever capacity, Art. 60.- (1) Tout administrateur ou toute personne qui, k un titre is involved in the running, management or supervision of an insurance quelconque, participe a la direction, & la gestion ou au controle d*une company or who is employed by such a company shaU be bound by entreprise d’assurances ou qui est employd pat celle CHAPTER III CHAPITRE 3 Des interventions diverses. • Sundry interventions. 61. The supervisory authority may impose standard clauses for con Art. 61.- L’autoritd de tutelle peut imposer des clause-types de tracts and fix, for some transactions, the maximum remuneration of contrat et fixer, pour certaines branches d’opdrations, les maxima des intermediaries and the rules applicable to the payment of such remu taux de retributions des intemiddiaires et les re^es applicables au paie- ment de ces rdtributions. neration. Art. 62.- Les fraK' de toutes natures, rdsultant du controle des or 62. All types of expenses arising from the control of insurance con ganismes d’assurances sont converts au moyen de icontributions an- cerns shall be covered by annual contributions from the said concerns nuelles desdits organismes sur la base d’une assiette et selon les moda- on the basis of an assessment and according to calculations fixed by litds de calcul fixdes par arretd de I’autoritd de tuteUe. order of the supervisory authority. 63. (1) Where the circumstances of the market so require, the super Art. 63.- (1) Lorsque la situation du marchd I’exige, I’autoritd de visory authority may suspend or restrict grants of new approvals for tutelle peut, pour une, plusieurs ou toutes les branches ou sous-bran- one, several or all branches or sub-branches of insurance transactions. ches d’op>drations d’assurances suspendre ou limiter la ddlivrance d agrd- ments nouveaux. (2) Elle peut dgalement, en pareilles circonstances, obliges toute ^2) It may also, under similar circumstances, compel any company socidte qui sollicite un agrdment, & couvrir branches d’opdrations fe'qucsting approval to cover specific branches of transactions, ddtermindes. ' ■ ■• M-jiu j:).>>o uriAOXii-o-i x>.xjx \^xxoxi:^±<.yJux% 14 I CHAPTER IV CHAPITRE 4 Procedures de redressement el de sauvegarde. Recovery and safety procedures. Art. 64.- (1) Lorsque I’activitI d’une soci£t£ d’assurances est de 64. (1) Where the activity of an insurance company is such as would ture & conduire Jt une situation telle que cette societ^ ne soit plus lead to a situation whereby the company can no longer provide ade mesure de donner des garanties suffisantes pour tenir, ses engage- quate guarantees to honour its commitments or is likely to cease func :nts ou qu’elle risque de ne plus fonctionner conformdment & la re- tioning in accordance with the regulations in force, the supervisory au mentation en vigueur, I’autorite de tutelle doit adresser & ses diri- thority shall, be registered letter, send a warning to the company di ants un avertissemen't par lettre recommandee et exiger que lui soil rectors and request that a recovery programme comprising all necessa umis pour approbation, dans un delai d’un mois, un programme de ry measures to restore the balance of the company be forwarded to lablissement pr^voyant toutes lesmesures propres a restaurer I’dqui- him within one month for approval. ire (fe leur entreprise. (2) Dis I’envoi' de Tavertissement pidvu au paragraphe pr6cddent, (2) The supervisory authority may, as soon as the warning provided .utoiitd de tuteUe peut charger un contrbleur des assurances d’exer- for in the preceding paragraph is sent, appoint an insurance controller r une surveillance peimanente sur la soci^t^ en difflcultd. to carry out a permanent surveillance of the company in difficulty. (3) Si la soeidtd refuse de produire un programme de rdtablisse- (3) Where the company refuses to draw up a recovery programme ent, ou si celui qu’elle a soumis ne recueille pas I’approbation de or where its programme is not approved by the supervisory authority, lutoriti de tutelle, ou si le programme approuvi n’est pas executd or where the approved programme is not carried out under the pres ms les conditions et ddlais prevus, I’autoriti de tutelle peut prendre cribed conditions and lime limit, the supervisory authority may, with ns prdjudice de I’application des dispositions relatives au retrait d’a- out prejudice to the provisions governing the withdrawal of approval toent, toutes mesures propres k sauVegarder lesinterets des assures take any necessary measures that would protect the interest of insured b^n^ficiaires de contrats. parties and policy holders. (4) Dans pareils cas, ^autorit^ de tutelle peut: (4) In such case, the supervisory authority may : (a) restrict or forbid the conipany’s freedom of access to its asset's; — Restreindre ou interdire Ig-libre disposition par ]a socidtd de ses actifs. (b) order any issuing person or body to refrain from carrying out — Presciire k toute autre personne ou collectivity dmettrice de refu- any transaction on securities belonging to the company in question er rexicution de toute opdration portant sur des titres appartenant k and from paying interest and dividends'on the said securities; 1 society mise en cause ainsi que le paiement des intyrets et dividen- les affyrents auxdits titres. (c) register a mortgage on the property of the company as provided, for in Article 53 of this Ordinance and request the repstrar of mort — Faire inscrire sur les immeubles de cette sociyty I’hypotheque gages to refuse transcribing all documents and registering any rnorlga- )rdvue ^ I’Article 53 de la prysente ordonnance et demander au con- ge related to the property involved, and to give prior au^orization for ervateur des hypotheques de refuser la transcription de tous acutes, the lifting of any mortgage made by a third party for the benefit of ’inscription de toute hyppthSque portant sur les immeuble impliquys :t ;Soumettre la radiation d’hypothyque consentie par un tiers au pro- the company in question; It de la sociyty incriminye> son autorisation pryalable. (d) Demand that the first authentic copies of mortgage loans gran ted by the said company be deposited at the Dqiosits and Consign — Exiger le dypot i la Caisse de dyp6ts el consignations des grosses ment Fund and that all the funds, titles and shares held or owned by le prets hypothdcaires consentis par ladite socKty ainsi que le depot the company be deposited in a frozen account at the Central Bank for le tous les fonds, titres et valeursdyienus ou possydys par cette sociy- a given period and under conditions to be fixed by the supervisory au- dans les dyiais et conditions qu’elle fixera, I la Banque Centrale, Ians un compte blotjuy. tority; (e) the account shall not be debited by order of its owner except Ce compte de pouna etre ddbity sur ordre de son litulaire que sur .on special authorization from the supervisory authority and for a gi lutorisation expresse de I’autority de tutelle et seulement pour un montant dytermind. ven amount only. (5) Any other conditions for the recovery of insurance companies (5) Un dycret prycisera, en ce qui conceme les exigences en ma- as concerns solvency requirements shall be fixed by decree. tiSre de solvabOiiy, toutes aulres modalitys de redressement des so- ciytes d’assurances. 'Art. 65.- Les dirigeants d’une society soumise aux mesures de re- 65. Directors of a company subject to the recovery measures outli dressemerit du prysenl chapitre, qui ne produisent pas le programme ned in this Chapter who do not draw up the required programme, who requis, qui n’exycutent pas celui qui a yiy approuvy ou qui n’effec- do not carry out the approved programme or who do not make the tuent pas les Iransferts prescrits par I’autority de tutelle, sont passibles transfers ordered by the supervisory authority shall be liable to the pe des sanctions de 1’Article 85 de la presente ordonnance. nalties provided in Article 85 of this Ordinance. PART IV TITRE IV Cessation of activity. Cessation d'activite. 66. Any insurance body may be required to cease its activities by Art. 66.- Tout organisme d’assurances peut etre amend ^ mettre 'decisions of its organs or by the supervisory authority under the con fin ^ son exploitation par ddcision soil de ses organes, soit de I’autori ditions outlined below: te de tutelle dans les conditions fixees ci-dessous: OFFICIAL GAl2ETTB OP THE BEPTJBLIO OF QAaiEBOON 3215 15 Sept. 19S3 CHAPTER I CHAPITRE PREMIER De la cessation volontaire des operations. Voluntary cessation of activity. 67 (1) In case of a voluntary, total or partial suspension of tranMC- Art. 67.- (1) En cas d? ssispension volontaire, totale ou partielle de tiions by an insurance concern, the insurance body shall be bound to ses operations , I’orga -'.ine d’assurances est tenu d’en informer au pve prior notification to the supervisory authonty who may order prdalable I’autoriti de tuielle qui peut prescrire toute mesure de sau- any necessary safety measures. vegarde. (2) La reprise partielle ou totale des opdrations objet de la suq>en- (2) The supervisory authority shall be notified of the partial or to sion, doit 6tre notifrfe k I’autoritf de tu’telle. EUe est subordonnde k tal resumption of suspended operations. It shall be the subject of prior I'autorisation pt^alable de I’autoritd de tuteDe, si eHe intervient un an authorization if the resumption takes place one ye« after suspension. apris la suspension. Art. 68.- (1) Les organismes d’assurances peuvent, avec I’approba- 68. (1) Insurance concerns may, on the approval of the supervisory tion de I’autoriti de tutelle, transffrer en totality ou en partie leurs authority, transfer all or part of their portfolios, together with the portefeuilles de contrats avec les droite et obligations y attachis, k un ri^ts and obligations arising thereunder, to one or more approved in ou plusieurs autres organismes d’assurances agrdds. surance concerns. (2) La demande de transfert est portde A la connaissance des cr (3) La convention de transfert passde ^ntre les parties est transmise (3) The transfer agreement reached between the parties shall be for & Tautoriti de tutelle qui I’approuve par visa si elle la juge confoime warded to the supervisory authority who shall grant approval by en aux intdr£ts des assures, bin^ficiaires de contrats d’assurances et cr6an- dorsement, if he deems that such a transfer is in the interest of the in ciers. Gette approbation rendle transfert opposable aux petsonnes vi- sured parties, policy holders and creditors. Such approval shall render sles au present paragraphe. the transfer demurrable in respect of the persons mentioned in this paragraph. Art. 69.— Un organisrae qui disire se retirer du marcW peut pro- 69. (1) An insurance concern which intends to withdraw from the c^der A la liquidation amiable de son portefeuille. market may proceed with an amicable liquidation of its portfolio. n doit en infomier l’autotit« de tutelle dans les quinze jours et lui (2) It shall notify the supervisory authority within fifteen days and indiquer le nom du liquidateur d6dgn£. give the name of its liquidator. L’autoritd de tutelle peut nommerun co4iquidateur. (3) The supervisory authority may appoint a coJiquidator. CHAPTER II CHAPITRE 2 De la cessation d 'activiti du fait de I’autorite de tutelle. Cessation of activity at the instance of the supervisory authority. 70. (1) Approval may be withdrawn or suspended in respect of all Art. 70.- (1) L’agrdment peut €tre suspendu poiir tout ou p^ie des branches d’opdrations, pour insufiisance des gararities financiSres or part of the branches of transactions when the financial guarantees au regard des engagemerils souscrits par I’organisme d’assurances ou are inadequate’for the'commitments made by the insurance concern, pour violation dela idglementation. or when the regulations are infringed. (2) Cette mesure intervient 3 mois apres une mise en demeure pat (2) This measure shall come into force three months after the super lettre recommandee, adressde I’organisme d’assurances intdressd par visory authority has formally notified the insurance company concer I’autoritd de tutelle. ned by registered letter. (3) La suspension prononcde pat une decision de rautoritd de tutel (3) The decision of suspension taken by the supervisory authority le, doit €tre motivde et notifide k I’entreprise concemde etinsdrdeau must be reasoned, forwarded to the suspended company, and published Journal officiel. in the Official Gazette. Art. 71.— (I) La suspennon entrafiie interdiction de sousctire tout 71. (1) When approval is suspended, no new contract may be con contrat nouveau ou de teconduire tout contrat parvenu k sa date d ex cluded or old contract renewed at expiry in those branches or sub piration dans les branches ou sous-branches d’opdrations pout lesquel- branches covered by the suspension.- les la suspension a dtd prononcde. (2) Contracts still valid in the branches or sub-branches affected by (2) Les contrats en cours des branches ou sous-branches visdes par the suspension shall be supervised by the company concerned under la suspension sont gdtds par rorganisme concemd jusqu’k leur idsfiia- conditions provided for by the policies, until their termination or ex tion ou extinction, dans les conditions prdvues par les polices. piry. Art. 72.— L'autoritd de tutelle peut, faute d’un transfert arniable 72. Failing an amicalbe transfer approved in accordance with the approuvd confoimdment aux dispositions de I’article 68 prdcddent, provisions of Article 68 above, the supervisory authority may order imposer A I’entreprise en cause le transfert d’office de tout ou partie th'e company concerned to automatically transfer all or part of its de son portefeuille ^ un ou plusieurs autres organismes agidds avec portfolio to one or more other approved and consenting companies. I’accord de ceux-ci. JOURNAL OPFIOIEL DE LA EEPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN 3216.- L‘) si-j)t. J!)S3 Art. 73.- (1) En cas de retrait d’agrdment k une entreprise d’assu- 73. (1) When approval of an insurance company is withdrawn, all rances, tous les contrats d’assurances en lipartition souscrits par elle the subscribed insurance contracts distributed by that company shall cessent de plein droit d’avoir effel le quaranti^me jour i midi , & automatically cease to have effect at midday on the fortieth day with compter de la publication au Journal Officipl de la decision de retrait. effect from the date of publication of the withdrawal decision in the Les primes anterieurement echoes et non payees ne sont acquises- i Official Gazette. The company shall earn the unpaid premiums past I'entreprise que proportionnellement ^ la periode garantie et les pri due date only in proportion to the guarantee period and the premiums mes i dchoir entre la decision de retrait et la date de resQiation ne due between the withdrawal decision and the date of termination shall sont dues que proportionnellement k la periode garantie selon la t&- be earned only in proportion to the guarantee period according to the ^e de la divisibOite de la p^e. rule of premium sharing. (2) Apres la publication de I’arrete prononqant le retrait d’agrd- (2) After publication of the withdrawal order, the life-iiisurance ment, les contrats vie spusciits par I’entreprise demeurent rdgis par contracts underwritten by the company shall continue to be governed leurs conditions gdnerales et particulieres. Ils sont maintenus sans mo by their general and special conditions. Thiy shall remain unchanged dification si la situation financi^ie de I’entreprise le permet. Sinon, if the financial situation of the company so penhits. Otherwise, their Idur maintien s’accompagne d’une induction des engagements de I’assu- being maintained shall be accompanied with a reduction of the insurer’s reuT soit par une prorogation d’^ch^ance, soit par une reduction des commitments either by extending the period or by reducing the sommes assur£es. L’autoiitf de tutuUe peut 6s»lement decider de leur amounts. The supervisory authority may also decide to transfer such transfer! i une ou phrsieurs soci^t^s. A ddfaut de transfer!, les con contracts to one or more companies. Failing such transfer, the con trats ne prerment effectivement fin qu’apres la publication au Journal tracts shall be effectively ended only after a new order has been publish •officiel d’un nouvel anetd qui ouvre un delai de dix jours i I’expira- ed in the Official Gazette giving a ten-day time limit at the end of tion duquel commence la liquidation proprement dite. which the actual liquidation shall commence. • Art. 74.— (1) Les entreprises d’assurances ne peuvent dtre mises en 74- (1) Insurance companies may be subjected to judicial liquidate liquidation juteiaire qu’& la requdte de I’autortid de tutelle. L’arretd only on the request of the supervisory authority. The order announc- ’prononqant le relrait total d’apeernen't emporte de plein droit, a ing the total withdrawaTof’the'approval shall, with eiiect from tfiVd’a-” compter de la date de sa publication au Journal officiel, la liquida te of publication in the Official Gazette, automatically entail the liqui tion de I’entreprise en cause. dation of the company in question. (2) La liquidation est effectude par un mandataire de justice ddsi-. (2) (a) The liquidation shall be carried out by an attorney designat gnde par ordonnance sur requete rendue par le prdsident du tribunal ed by an order of the President of the competent court and enforcea compdtent et exdcutoire nonobstant toutes voies de recours. ble notwithstanding all modes of appeal. Le prdsident du tribunal commet par la mdme ordonnance un juge (b) The President of the court shall, by the same order, appoint a chargd de contrpler les operations de liquidation. Ce juge est assistd, judge to supervise the liquidation operations. The judge shall be assis dans I’exercice de sa mission, par un ou plusieurs controleurs des assu ted in his mission by one or mote insurance controllers appointed by rances ddagnes par le ministre chargd des assurances. the Minister in charge of insurance. Le juge et le liquidateur sont remplacds dans les mdms formes. (c) Replacement of the judge md the liquidator shall be done in like manner. (3) Le liquidqteur ou le dirigeant de I’entreprise, si le liquidateur (3) (a) The liquidator, or if none has been appointed yet, the direc n’est pas encore ddsignd, a un ddlai de trente jours pour a%iser, par tor of the company shall have thirty days within which to inform the deux insertions dans un journal d’annonces Idgales, les souscripteurs policy holders, through two announcements in a newspaper bearing du retrait d’agrdment et de la rdsiliation des contrats qui en rdsulte. legal notices, of the withdrawal of the approval and the resulting can cellation of their contracts. Tous les contrats d’assurances en capitalisation sont maintenus pro- (b) All capita] accumulation insurance contracts shall, on the request visoirement en cours en attendant la ddcision qui sera prise par Tauto- of the liquidator and on the basis of the report of the committed jud ritd de tutelle, ^ la demande du liquidateur et sur le rapport du juge ge, be temporarily maintained pending the decision of the supervisory commissaire. authority. Cette ddcision peut etre soit la rdalisation des contrats i telle date (c) The said decision may be either the cancellation of contracts on ddterminde, soit le transfer! total ou partiel k une autre entreprise, a given date, total or partial transfer to another company,or tlje reduc soit la rdduction des capitaux assures en prorogeantTdchdance des coh- tion of the insured capital by extending the date of expiry ofcontracts trats et des prestations. and services. Ndanmoins, le liquidateur peut, avec I’approbation du juge commis Nonetheless, the liquidator may, with the approval of the bailiff saire, surseoir au paiement des sinistres, des dettes arrivdes k dchdance . defer the payment of accidents, debts that have matured and repur et des valeurs de rachat. chase securities. Les primes encaissdes par le liquidateur sont versdes dans un comp- The allowances received by the liquidator shall be paid into a spe te spdcial. cial account. (4) Un arrdtd_ de I’autoritd de tutelle prdciscra en tant que de be- (4) An order of the supervisory authority shall, whenever necessary, soin les dispositions des articles 66 a 74 ci-dessus. relatives aux modali- further clarify the provisions of Articles 66 to 74 above relating to the tes de cessation d’activitd des entreprises d’assurances agrddes. conditions of cessation of the activities by approved insurance com panies. Art. 75.- Les activites des inteimddiaires d’assurances peuvent prendre fin dans les conditions determindes par arretd de I’autoritd de - 75. The activities of insurance intermediaries shall cease under the tutelle. conditions iaid down by order of the supervisory authority. TlTi;h VII l-AKTXII De l orgaiiisaliiin ile la profession. Organiiarion of the profession. An. 76. (1) II csl cree un Conscil iialional des assurances, organis- 76. (1) A National Insurance Board which is an advisory body shall me consuliatif. place sous rautoriie du minisire charge des assurances. be set up and placed under the authority of ihg Minister in charge of’ insurance. (2) Cel organismc cst appele a donner des avis sur les questions qui (2) This body shall be required to give opinions on matters submit lui soni soumiscs par I'autoriie de luielle concernant I’organisation du ted to it by the supeaisory authority, relating to the organi/ation of marche. Ic fonciionnemcnl des enireprises ainsi que I'exercice des pro contracts, the functioning of undertakings, the practice of related pro fessions annexes a I'industrie des assurances el le relrait d'agreement. fessions and the withdrawal of approvals. (3) A ce litre, il peut notanimeni formulcr toules propositions sur (3) In this capacity, it shall, in particular, fonnulaie proposals on fance. les regies de larification. les principes directcurs en malicrcs dc the prevention of risks, the general conditions of insurance contracts, reassurance ct les modalitcs de rcglemcni des sinistres. the rules of tariff fixing, the guiding principles in matters of reinsuran ce and the conditions for the compensation of accidents. (4) Un decret fixe les attributions, la composition ct les modaliles (4) A decree shall fix the duties, composition and conditions of dc fonctionnement dc ce conseil. functioning of the said Board. Art. 77. (1) Toutes les societes d'assuranccs agreees confomie- 77. (1) All insurance companies approved in accordance with the provisions of Article 31 above shall become members of the Professio ment aux dispositions dc Particle 3 1 ci-dcssus. sont tenues d’adherer a nal Association of Insurance Companies constituted in pursuance of Passociation profcssionnclle des societes d’assurance^ constituee con- the regulations governing associations. formcmcnt a la reglcmenlalion sur les associations. (2) The Professional Association of Insurance Companies shall be (2) L'association prolcssionnelle des societes d’assuranccs est pla- placed under the super\’ision of the Minister in charge of insurance. cec sous la tufelle du ministre charge des assurances. (3) Nullc autre association profcssionnelle ou nul groupement syn- (3) No other professional association or employers’ group ofirisu- dical des societes d’assuranccs ne peut eirc constitue. rance companies may be set up. (4) Cette association est administrec par un bureau elu par PAssem- (4) the Association shall be administered by an executive elected blcc gene rale de Passociation. by the C.eneral Assembly of the Association. (5) Les staluts de Passoaciation professionnelle des societes d’assu (.S) The rules and regulations of the Professional Association of In ranccs doivenl. anterieurement a leur declaration el a leur publication surance Companies shall be submitted for the approval of the Minister elre soumis a Paccord de I’autoriie de tutclle. with supervisory powers prior to their adoption and publication. Art. 78.- (1) L'association professionnelle dcs societes d’assuran 78.(1) The Professional Association of Insurance C’ompanies shall ccs fait appliquer par ses membres. la reglemcntation relative aux ope cause its members to abide by the regulations governing insurance tran rations d’assuranccs sactions. • {£} hlle "sen d micrmeuiaire enirc les 'ofganismes d assurances et (2) Il shall act as an liTtcrhi'c’drafj'bciwecn insurance concerns and I’autorit^ dc tutelle. the supervisory authority.. Art. 7b.- (I) L’association professionnelle des societes d’assuran 7‘). (1) The Professional Association of Insurance C’ompanies shall ccs ctudie les questions interessanl I’exercice de la profession d’assu- study questions relating to the practice of the insurance profession, rance. la creation des services communs de preventiop, les accords sur the setting up of common prevention services, agreement on the set le reglement dcs sinistres. etc. tlement of claims,etc. (2) Hlle provoque des accords sur ces questions et peut etre chargee (2) It shall promote agreements on these questions and may he ins par i'auiorite de tutelle d’assurer la direction effective des organismes tructed by the supervisory authority to direct any joint bodies set up communs que les compagnies d’assuranees constitueraient. by insurance companies. Art. 80. Hn tant que de besoin. un decret completera les disposi 80. If need be. the provisions above, with regard to the settingup, tions ci-dessus en ce qui concerne la constitution, les modalites de the functioning and competence of the Professional Association ol fonctionnement ct les competences de l’association professionnelle i Insurance Companies, shall be supplemented by decree. des societes d’assuranccs. Art. 81 .• (I) Lorsque les societes d’assuranccs concluent un accord j 81. (I I Where insuranca'or reinsurance companies conclude any quclconque en maliere de tarils. dc conditions generales de contrats. ^ agreement on rates, general conditions of contracts', organi/ation ol d’organisation de la profession, dc concurrence el de gestion financie- : the profession, competition or financial management, the signatories re. cet accord doit etre porte par ses signalaires et par lettre recom-.: of the agreement shall notify liie supervisory authority ihercol by re mandee.a la connaissance dc I’autoriie dc tutelle. gistered letter. (2» 11 en sera de mcme des conventions d’emprunls passees cnlre (2) The same shall apply to loan agreements signed between an insu rance company and a banking or financial body, or any other creditor >ine societe d’assurance et un organisme hancaire ou linancicr. ou tout autre bailleur dc fonds. 3218 JOUENAL OFFIOIEL DE LA EEPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUii L"> scjit. J!)S5 (3) L’accord ne peut €Ue mis en application que si, apresun ddlai (3) The agreement may be enforced only if the supervisory authori ty does not put up objections within three months. de tiois mois, I’autoriti de tutelle n’y fait pas opposition. TITRE VIII PART VIII Des sanctions et dispositions finales. ■ Penalties and final provisions. CHAPTER I CHAHTRE PRE.M1ER Penalties. Des sanctions. Art. 82.— Inddpendamment des sanctions pi^vues ci-dessus, la vio 82. Apart from the penalties provided for above, the breach of legis lation des dispositions legislatives ou reglementaires sur les activites lative and statutory provisions governing insurance activities may lead d’assurances peut entramer la suspension ou le retrait de I’agrement. to the suspension or withdrawal of the agreement.' Art. 83.- Toute violation des dispositions des Articles 3,5,9,14, 83. Any breach of the provisions of Articles 3,5,9,14,18,20,21, 18, 20,21, 24 (paragraphe 3), 26, 27.33,34,36 et 59,est sanction- 24(3), 26, 27,34, 36 and 59 shall be punishable by the nullity of the nde par la nulfite de I’acte ou document concemd. deed or document concerned. Art. 84.- (1) Les infractions aux dispositions des Articles 1,2,3, 84. (1) Any breach of the provisions of Articles 1,2,3,5,6 to 10, 5 6 i 10,18,21,23 k 25 et i celles des TiUes 3 k 8 .sontpunies 18, 21,23 to 25 and those of Parts 3 to 8 shall be punishable by a ne d^ne amende transactionnelle de 1.000.000 k 5.000.000 de francs gotiable fine ran^g from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 CFA francs, impo sed by the supervisory authority. CFA, infligee par Tautorite de tutelle. (2) Si le contrevenant ne s’acquittepas du montant de cette amen (2) Where the offender, does not pay the fine within a period of de dans un delai de ax (6) mois k partir de la notification de la deci 6 (six) months following the date of notification of the decision pena sion le sanctionnant, I’autorite de tutelle transmet le dossier au Par lizing him, the supervisory authority shall forward the file to the Legal quet. Department. (3) Au cas ou le contrevenant est unpersonne morale, les poursui- (3) Where the offender is a corporate body, legal action shall be ta tes sont diligentdes k I’encontre de ses dirigeants. ken against its managers- _ _Ait-_85iT-. (l)..Spnt_pasgbkSJ}.’l!n_finp.risonnement .de huiL k. quin^ __ 85. (l)JThe managers, of insurance-companies who ignoi£-the-Obli.-, ze jours et d’une amende de 1.000.000 k 5.000.000 de F CFA ou de gations or prohibitions relating to the re-establishment of their under d’une de ces deux peines seulement, sur plainte de I’autoriti de tuteUe takings such as provided for under Part 5 Chapter 4 of this Ordinance les dirigeants de socidtis d’assurances qui mdconnaissent les obliga shall be liable to imprisonment of eight to fifteen days and a fine rang tions ou interdictions relatives aux procedures de rdtablissement de ing from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 CFA francs or one of the two penal leurs entreprises telles que pr^vues dans le chapitre 4 du litre 5 de la- ties only. piesente ordonnance. (2) In the event of repeated offence, the imprisonment may be in (2) En cas de ricidive, la peine d’emprisonnement pourra etre por creased to one month and the fine to 10,000,000 CFA francs. tae k un mois et celle d’amende k 10.000.000 de F CFA. Art. 86. — (1) Toute personne qui prdsente au public, en vue de leur 86. (1) Any person who presents insurance contracts to the public souscription ou fait sousciire des contrats d’assurances pour le compte for purchase or causes same to the purchased on behalf of a body sub d’un organisme sousmis au contrOle de I’Etat par la presente ordon ject to state control by this Ordinance which is not approved for the nance et non agr6< pout la branche d’assurance dans laquelle rentrent category of transactions to which the contracts relate shall be punisha ces contrats, estpunie d’une amende de 1.000.000 de F CFA k 5.000. ble by fine ranging from 1,000,000 CFA francs to 5,000,000 CFA 000. 000 de F CFA et d’un emprisonnement de douze mois k deux francs and imprisonment ranging from twelve months to two years or ans ou de I’une de ces deux peines seulement. one of the two penalties only. (2) En cas de licidive, ces peines sont doubldes. (2) In case of repeated offence, these penalties shall be doubled. (3) Sont punies des memes peines les infractions aux dispositions (3) Any breach of the provisions of Articles 45 to 47 shall be puni des Articles 45 a 47 de la prdsente ordonnance. shable by the same penalties. (4) La juridiction otdonne obligatoirment, nonobstant les voies de (4) The court shall, not withstanding any remedy by law, order the recours, la publication de ses ddcisions et la fenneture de I’dtablisse- publication of its judgment and the closure of the establishment as ment prevues aux Articles 33 et 34 du Code Pdnal. ’ provided for under Sections 33 and 34 of the Penal Code. (5) En cas de ddcision de fermeture de I’dtablissement ayant acquis (5) In the event of the closure of the establishment ordered in res I’autotitd de la chose jugee, le ministere public ou Tautoritd de tutelle judicata, the Legal Department or the supervisory authority shall re saisit le present du tribunal competent aux iins de nomination par quest the President of the competent court to appoint, by ari order ordonnance rendue, sans frais, d’un liquidateur ddsign^ sur proposi-, issued without charges, a liquidator to be proposed by the administra tion de cette autorit^ administrative. Ce liquidateur est de plein droit' tive authority. This liquidator shall, without more, have the powers invest! des attributions et devoirs du syndicat de faillite. and duties of the body of creditors. Art. 87.- Sont punis des peines de la banqueroute simple les diri 87. De facto or de jure business leaders, liquidators and, in general, geants sociaux de droit ou de fait, les liquidateurs et, d’une faqon^gd- any person who, directly or indirectly, administers, manages or liqui ndrale toute personne ayant directement ou par personne inteipo^e, dates kn undertaking under the cover or on behalf of its legal repre administrd, g^id ou liquidd I’entreprise sous convert ou aux lieu et pla sentatives and who, in this capacity and in bad faith : ce de ses reprdsentants Idgaux qui ont, en cette qualitd et de mauvaise foi; 1. Soit dans I’intention de retarder le retrait d’agriment de l’entre- (1) Either with the intention of delaying the withdrawal of the ^ prise, employ^ des moyens ruineux pour se procurer des fonds; proval of the undertaking uses extravagant means to get funds; 2. Soit, apres le retrait d’agrdment de I’entreprise, pay« ou fait pa (2) Or, after the withdrawal-of the agreement of the undertaking yer irregulierement un creancier; inegularly pays or causes creditors to be paid; nT7T: ' Soil, en vue de soustraire tout pu partie de leur patriinoinc, aux (3) Or, with a view to withdrawing all or pan of their share in order Tjoufsuites de I'entreprise en liquidation ou a celles des associes ou to pursue an undertaking being liquidated, business associates or cre- crianciers sociaux, deioume ou dissimule. tent^ de detoumer ou de ' ditors of the undertakings misappropriate, conceal, attempt to misap- dissimuler une partie de leuis biens ou qui se sont frauduleusement re- i propriate or conceal part of their share, or persons who lay false claim ! to money they are not entitled to; shall be punishable by penalties for connus des sommes qu’ils ne devraient pas. i bankruptcy. Art. 88.- (1) Est puni des peines de I’abus de confiance prdvues ! 88. (1) Any liquidator or person who, having participated in the par I'Ariicle 318 du Code Penal tout liquidateur ou toute personne I administration of an undertaking either directly or indirectly purcha- qui. ayant participe a Tadminislration de I’enueprise, se sera rendu ac- ! ses for himself the property of the said undertaking shall be punisha qiiereiir pour son compte directement ou indirectement, des biens de ble by the penalties for breach of confidence, provided for under Arti cette entreprise. cle 318 of the Penal Code. (2) Est puni des memes peines, tout liquidateur qui se sera rendu (2) Any liquidator who shall be found guilty of misappropriation coupable de malversations dans sa gestion. of founds during his management shall be punishable by the same penal Art. 89.- Tous arrets et jugements de condamnation en vertu d« ties. Articles 84 S 88 seront, aux frais des condamnes, affichds et publics 89. All decisions and judgments sentencing culprits in accordance dans un journal d’annonces Idgales. with Articles 84 to 88 shall be posted and published in the legal noti ces journal at the expense of the sentenced person. CHAPITRE 2 CHAPTER n Des dispositions/males. Final provisions. Art. 90.- Les organismes d’assurances agrdds sous le regime prdcd- dent sont, dans un delai de six mois maximum i compter de la date 90. Insurance concerns approved under the foregoing system shall, de publication de la presente ordonnance et sous peine d’application within a maximum period of six months following the date of publica des sanctions pr^vues au Chapitre 1 du present litre, tenus de se con- tion of this Ordinance and subject to the application of the penalties fomier aux nouvelles prescriptions. provided for under Chapter 1 of this Part, be bound to conform to the new prescriptions. Art. 91.- Sont abrogies toutes dispositions antflieures, contraires 91. Any previous provisions repugnant to this Ordinance, in parti i la prdsente ordonnance, notamment'l’ordonnance n° 73-14 du 10 cular Ordinance No. 73-14 of 10 May 1973 to lay down regulations mai 1973 fixant la reglementation applicable aux organismes d’assu applicable to insurance concerns are hereby repealed. rances, modifiee par la loi n® 79-24 du 30 noverabre 1979. 92. This Ordinance shall be registered and published in the Official Art. 92.- La prisente ordonnance seta eruepstrde puis publide au Gazette in English and French. Journal officiel en fran^ais et en anglais. Yaounde, 31 August 1985. Yaounde, le 31 aout 1985. Paul Biya Le President de la Republique Paul Kya President of She Republic ANNEX IV DECREE No. 87-639 OF 9 MAY 1987, TO FIX THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF THE REGISTERED OR INITIAL CAPITAL OF INBURANCE COMPANIES. Ddcret n° 87-639 du 9 mai 1987 Decree No. 87-639 of 9 May 1987 fixant k muntanl minimum du capital social I to fix the minimum amount of the registered au dufonds d'ctablissement des sociites d’assurances. I or initial ca])ital of insurance companies. Le President de la Rdpublique, . The President of the Republic, i Vu la Coustitutidn; Mindful of the C'onstilution: Vu rortlontniKV n° 85-003 du 31 aoiit 1985 iclativc a I’cxcrcicc dc I’activito ^ Mindful of Ordinance No. 85-3 of 31 Augiisi 1985 rcluiing lo bu d'assuramx; siness; Vu le dccret tl° 73-570 du 24 sepicmbrc 1973 fixant Ic montaiit du capital Mindful of Decree No. 73-570 of 24 September 1973 to I1\ the umoum oi suL-ial dcs societes anonyincs d'assuranccs. , the capital of limited liability companies engaged in insurance. 1. Pursuant to the provisions of Articles 3, 13, 17 and 26 Ariidc premier.- l£n application des articles 3. 13. P et 26 de I’ordonnance n 85-003 du ji , of Ordinance No. 85-3 of 31 August 1985, insurance com aoui 1985. Ics societes d’assurances doivent. selon leur sta- panies must, depending on their legal status, have a mini mum registered capital or initial capital as laid down in this lut iuridiiiue, constituer un montant initial minimum de ca pita! social ou de fonds d’etablissement tel que determine decree. par le present dccret. Insurance companies that carry out the transactions re .An 2. • Lcs cnireprises d’assurances pratiquant les ope-1 ferred to in Article 1 (3) of the above-mentioned ordinance rations visees a I’alinea 3 de I'article Icr de 1 ordonnance . shall, at the time of their constitution, show proof of the procitee doivent justificr a leur constitution : following: I'our lcs societes aiionynx-s. d’un capita! social mini - for limited liability companies, a minimum initial capi mum egal a 150 millions de francs C l A dont la moitie tal not less than one hundred and fifty million CFA francs, est intceralement liberee. non compris les apports en half of which must be completely paid up, excluding contri butions in kind; nature; mutuelle d'un fonds d’eta- - for mutual insurance companies, a minimum initial ca- Pour lcs societes ii forme 100 millions dc francs CFA . pital of not less than one hundred million CFA francs wholy blisseinent minimum egal k integralement souscrit; subscribed: — for mutual societies, a minimum initial capital of not - Pour les societes routuelles, d’un fonds d etablissement less than fifty million CFA francs wholy subscribed. minimum egal a 50 millions de francs CFA integrale ment souscrit. Art 3 •• Pour les societes d’assurances pratiquant les ope 3. In the case of insurance companies that carry out the rations des alineas 1 ct 2 de Particle Icr de I’ordonnance ci- transactions referred to Article 1 (1) and (2) pf the above- dcisus \isee. les montants sont fixes de la maniere suivante . mentioned ordinance, the amounts shall,be as follows: - for limited liability companies, a minimum initial capi - 100 millions de francs CPA de capital social minimum tal of one hundred million CFA francs, not less than half of pour les societes i.nonymes dont la moitie au moms est which shall be completely paid up excluding contributions integralement liberee. non compris les apports en natu in kind: re. - 50 millions de francs Cl'A de fonds d’etablissement ■ for mutual insurance companies, a minimum initial ca- minimum integralement souscrit pour les societes ii pital of fifty million CTA francs wholy subscribed, forme mutuelle. .An. 4.-.Les minima fixes aiL\ articles 2 et 3 precedents 4. The minimum amounts fixed in Articles 2 and 3 above sont jiortes respectivemertt j 200 millions df francs CF_A shall be’increased to two hundred million CFA francs for li pour les societes anonymes et 150 millions de francs CPA : mited liability companies and one hundred and fifty million pour les societes a forme mutuelle. lorsqu’elles operent a la ' CFA francs for'mutual insurance companies respectively fois dans lei. branches visees aux alineas 1 et 2, et les bran where these companies carry out transactions in the bran dies de I’alinea 3 de I’article ler de I’ordonnance relative a ches referred to in Article 1(1), (2), and (3) of the ordinan- Texercice de I'activite d’assurance. , ce relating to insurance business. I 1 .Art. 5. ■ Les societes d’assurances agreees avant la date de 5. (1) Insurance companies that were approved before the publication du present decret et justifiant du montant re- ; date of publication pf this decree and show proof of having glcmcniaire de la marge dc solvabilite. seront dispensees des : the amount required for the margin of solvency shall be ex- obligations cdictces par le present decret sous reserve d’une • empted from the obligations prescribed by this decree, pro declaration expresse adressee dans lcs six mois au ministre vided that they forward a specific declaration within six charge des assurances. months to the Minister in charge of insurance. Cette declaration doit indiquerle niveau de la marge ainsi (2) The said declaration shall indicate the degree of sol que les elements ayanl servi au calcul. vciicy and the elements used in its evaluation. (3) However, the exemption referred to above may be Toutefois. la dispense visec au paragraphe ci-dcssus peut ctre retiree des que Teiitreprise ne satisfait plus aux exigen- withdrawn as soon as the company ceases to fulfil the statu eex regiementaiivs cn matiere de solvabilite. tory requirements for solvency. Art. (). Toute violation dispositions du present de- : 6. Any breach of the provisions of this decree shall be pu- cret csl sanclionnee par I;' i..:ilite prevue a I’article 83 de ■ nishable by the nullity provided for in Article 83 of'•■e or- Tori‘ ^ u ! 1 Decree No. 73-570 of 24 September 1973 to fix the a- Kn 1 - Es. abrogd 1. dec,=tt’S't" 1 mount of capital of limited liability compamcs engaged .n 73 fixant le montant du capital social des societes a jj^j^rance is hereby repealed. mes d assurance . ; g This decree shall be registered and published in the 0/- Vrt 8.- Le present decret sera enregistre puis publi6 au ■ ■ French. \rt. Le prebciii ------. irnal.....'.7 ofjldcl en frani-aisfrans'ais et cn anglais. l Yaounde. 9 May 1987. Yaounde,le 9 mai 1987. > Paul Biya lx I-rcsidriil dr 1“ lliiHibUili‘r I SEILECTEO B I BL-I OOE^AE=*MY Ayangma-Amang, P. - Ponet, 6. Guide des Assurances jig. 1'Entreprise au Cameroun CNA-Douala-Cameroun, Editeur, 198B Badger, D. and Whitehead, G. Elements q£. Cargo Cambridge : Woodhead-Faulkner, 1983 Brown, R.H. MARINE INSURANCE Vol .2-CarqQ Pr^Q-ti^.a London : Witherby and Co. LTD, 1985 Cameroon National Shippers Council, "Bu11etin du C.N.C.C." Hors s^rie No 5, ler trimestre 1990 Dover, Victor, ^ Handbook to Marine Insurance Revised by R.H. Brown London : Witherby and Co. LTD, 1975 Hodgin, R.W. Protection of the Insured London ; Lloyds of London Press, 1989 Ivamy,. Hardy E.R. Marine Insurance 3rd_ e^ London : Butterworths and Co.(Publishers), 1979 Rodi^re, R, DROIT MARITIME : &L Vgntes Maritimes Paris : DALLOZ, 1983 Turner, H.A. and Alexander, The Principles d. 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